Tom Brady is officially not returning to the Patriots; Tampa or Los Angeles next stop?

Where will six-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady play in the 2020 season? It will not be with the only team he has known in his NFL career as Brady announced on social media that he was NOT returning to the New England Patriots this coming season.

He posted a long message, with the key sentence: "I don't know what my football future holds, but it is time for me to open a new stage for my life and career." Brady threw for 74,571 yards and 541 touchdowns with the Patriots, which both rank as the most for a single team in NFL history. Interesting he made this decision on St. Patrick's Day, which is a big deal in Boston. 

By Monday, most sportsbooks had moved the Tampa Bay Buccaneers into the favored role on the NFL futures odds to be the team where Brady would take his first snap in 2020. That would make sense if Brady cares about his wide receiver talent as the Bucs have two Pro Bowlers in Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. FoxBet just released new odds on Brady's next team and Tampa is the clear-cut -275 favorite. 

Plus, hey, no state income taxes in Florida. Some have even speculated the Miami Dolphins could be in play. The Fins appeared to get a lot better defensively with a free-agent spending spree Monday, and Miami's coach is former Patriots defensive coordinator Brian Flores.

The Los Angeles Chargers (+250 to land Brady) are still a definite possibility as Brady just started a production company in Hollywood, and he could follow in the footsteps of moving out there simply for TB12 marketing reasons similar to what LeBron James did.

The Los Angeles Raiders might be out of the running after signing Marcus Mariota, but in theory they could still dump Derek Carr and simply have Mariota as Brady's backup instead of as Carr's. The Tennessee Titans are out after giving Ryan Tannehill a huge extension.

We should find out soon where Brady is headed and it seems likely to be L.A. or Tampa. SportsLine will be all over this with updated futures odds, etc. The Patriots could now sign someone like Teddy Bridgewater or swing a trade for Andy Dalton. Maybe they turn it over to young Jarrett Stidham.