For just the second time in his illustrious NFL career, and for the first time since he left New England for Tampa Bay in 2020, Tom Brady will be a true unrestricted free agent when the current NFL season comes to a close.

And Brady, who will turn 46 years old in 2023, will have multiple suitors, according to the latest report from Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network.

At least four, in fact, per Rapoport’s reporting.

• The team headlining that list — and to the surprise of absolutely no one — is Brady’s current team and the reigning NFC South champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

  In Tampa for the last three seasons, Brady immediately made the Bucs relevant after years of the team being a mere afterthought around the league, and everybody involved in the Bucs organization is aware what would happen to the franchise if Brady decided to take his talents elsewhere.

  With Brady under center, the Bucs have posted a 32-18 record since 2020, and won Super Bowl LV over the Kansas City Chiefs, and with Brady capturing Super Bowl MVP honors on the way to the banner.

  The Bucs, who won the NFC South this season by way of an 8-9 record, are also looking to win a playoff game for the third season in a row. They had never won playoff games in consecutive seasons prior to signing Brady, and are one 2023 playoff berth away from matching the longest playoff streak in franchise history, with the team having previously qualified for the postseason in four straight seasons from 1999 through 2002.

  Leading the Tampa Bay offense with offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich, Brady has his say when it comes to just about everything involving the Bucs’ offense. The Bucs have also given Brady a strong group of offensive firepower, with a one-two of Mike Evans and Chris Godwin at wideout, and a strong backfield option in Leonard Fournette (one of three NFL running backs to have at least 600 rushing yards and 500 receiving yards in 2022).

  Brady also has a ‘great affection’ for the Glazers, according to Rapoport.

  Tampa Bay’s desperation to keep Brady beyond this season may also go beyond the overall status symbol he creates for the franchise, as the club’s depth chart behind Brady features veteran journeyman Blaine Gabbert and 2021 second-round pick Kyle Trask.

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  SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA – DECEMBER 11: Tom Brady #12 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers warms-up prior to the game against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi’s Stadium on December 11, 2022 in Santa Clara. (Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)

• Another potential suitor is another team that had an interest in Brady when he hit the market last time around, with the Tennessee Titans mentioned by Rapoport as a potential Brady landing spot.

  The connections linking Brady to the Titans are painfully obvious, really, as the Titans are led by head coach and ex-Patriots linebacker Mike Vrabel.

  Brady and Vrabel have a ‘roast the hell out of one another’ kind of relationship that goes back to their days as teammates, but the overall respect for one another and their craft has remained there throughout, and it was Vrabel’s Titans who put an end to Brady’s Patriots career in 2020.

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  Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady (12) talks with Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel after their joint training camp practice at AdventHealth Training Center Thursday, Aug. 19, 2021 in Tampa, Fla. (Credit: USA TODAY SPORTS)

• The Titans have what you would consider some serious instability at the quarterback position.

  While the Titans have rolled with Ryan Tannehill to the tune of a 36-19 regular-season record as Tennessee’s starter, the Titans have failed to win a playoff game since Tannehill took them to the AFC Championship Game in 2020, and the team failed to qualify for the postseason in 2022 thanks a 7-10 record.

  It was a painful finish for the Titans, too, as the team lost seven straight games after beginning their season with wins in seven of their first 10 games. The Titans also lost Tannehill to an ankle injury and had to turn to Malik Willis and Joshua Dobbs in an attempt to keep their season alive.

  The Titans went a combined 1-5 with Willis and Dobbs as their starting quarterbacks in 2022, and Willis, a third-round pick of the club in the 2022 NFL Draft, completed just 31 of his 61 passing attempts for 276 yards, zero touchdowns, and three interceptions.

  One thing the Titans do not have that they had back when they first pursued Brady: A superstar No. 1 wide receiver like A.J. Brown. The Titans have since traded Brown to the Eagles, and played the 2022 season with a one-two wideout punch featuring veteran Robert Woods and Treylon Burks.

  The Titans do still have the top running back in the game in Derrick Henry, and play in the AFC South, which may be the perfect spot for Brady to thrive, with teams like the Colts and Texans in the midst of obvious and ground-up rebuilds, and the Jaguars the top dog in the division by way of an 9-8 record in 2022.

• Staying in the AFC, the Las Vegas Raiders are another team expected to make a push for Brady in 2023.

  I mean, this one is as obvious as it gets. And, honestly, it was obvious as soon as Josh McDaniels left his post with the Patriots for a head coaching gig with the Raiders. Add in the Raiders’ late-season benching of veteran Derek Carr and, man, they might as well have started accepting pre-orders for Brady jerseys.

  Las Vegas would present it all for Brady.

  In addition to a coach he’s more than familiar with in McDaniels, the Raider offense features running back Josh Jacobs, tight end Darren Waller, and wide receiver Davante Adams. Oh, and the Raiders finished the season with a top-10 ranked offensive line, according to Pro Football Focus. If you’re looking to build Brady an offense that plays to his strengths at this stage of his career, it’s hard to think of a better foundation.

  Life in Vegas may even be enough for Brady and McDaniels to lure Rob Gronkowski back out of retirement.

  But it’s also no walk in the park for Brady, as the Raiders find themselves in an AFC West that still runs through Kansas City, and should have plenty of competition in 2023 with the Justin Herbert-led Chargers and a potential rebound by the Broncos unless Russell Wilson is indeed and straight-up cooked.

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  LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – OCTOBER 25: Tom Brady #12 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers throws a pass in the second quarter against the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium on October 25, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

• Another obvious fit and a team mentioned by Rapoport: the San Francisco 49ers.

  Brady’s hometown club, the 49ers are currently in the midst of trying to see if 2022’s Mr. Irrelevant, Brock Purdy, can be the guy to deliver San Francisco back to the promised land. Purdy is off to an encouraging start, to be honest, with an 18-of-30 performance for 332 yards and three scores in a 41-23 playoff win over Seattle.

  But if reality comes to the table and smashes Purdy’s fairytale, and if the 49ers don’t want to bank on Trey Lance or pending free agent Jimmy Garoppolo, there’s no doubt that Brady would shoot up to the top of their wish list.

  And if you’re focusing on offensive weapons for Brady, it’s hard to imagine anybody topping what the 49ers already have signed to their books for 2023. At running back, Christian McCaffrey will begin 2023 with a full offseason program under his belt, while the 49ers will still have Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk under contract, and still have George Kittle in the mix. That’s one hell of a starting group, and that’s without factoring in any veterans that would want to follow Brady to San Fran for a shot at a Super Bowl championship.

  The 49ers are also a true complete team in the sense that their defense is beyond legit, with a league-low 300.6 yards and 16.3 points allowed per game in 2022.

  Beyond the obvious hometown appeal of it all, the 49ers would probably give Brady his best shot at forming a superteam like he did with the Bucs in 2020 when they won a Super Bowl.

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  Dec 11, 2022; Santa Clara, California, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady (12) throws a pass against the San Francisco 49ers in the fourth quarter at Levi’s Stadium. (Cary Edmondson/USA TODAY Sports)

• One team you did not hear or see mentioned was the New England Patriots.

  Earlier this season, it was hypothesized that the Patriots and/or Brady could aim for a reunion in the name of one final run together. But that pipedream didn’t make it into Rapoport’s reporting over the weekend, leading you to believe that it remains a pipedream, and mostly from those of us in New England.

  It probably doesn’t help that the division looks primed to run through Buffalo for the next couple of years, with not even Brady likely to bridge the gap between the rivals right now, and with the Patriots currently appearing to lack the game-changing talents that would lure Brady back to Foxborough.

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  Oct 3, 2021; Foxboro, MA, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady (12) runs off the field after the win over the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium. (Paul Rutherford/USA TODAY Sports)

• In the now, the 45-year-old Brady will look to keep his season alive with a Monday Night Football wild card ‘weekend’ showdown against the Cowboys.

  A veteran of 47 career playoff games, Brady has suffered just two losses in the wild card round in his career, with defeats in 2020 against the Titans and in 2010 against the Ravens.

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