3 reasons why Tampa Bay Buccaneers are making mistake playing Tom Brady in preseason 

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Tom Brady will play Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals this Saturday in their first NFL preseason game. Head coach Bruce Arians stated that "everybody will play.". That includes 44-year-old QB Tom Brady, who will play "a drive or two.". In Week 2, they play the Tennessee Titans and, after a joint practice with the Titans, certain players will participate who need more time in a live game. In Week 3 against the Houston Texans, "a bunch of players" will take part in this game to finish up battles and starting roles. In retrospect, in the Hall of Fame game, barely any non-rookie starters took the field. When it comes to Tom Brady, playing him in the first preseason game would be a mistake.

Three reasons it is a mistake to play QB Tom Brady in NFL preseason

#1 - Too soon from injury/rehab

It was reported that Tom Brady played the 2021 season with a torn MCL. He did get it repaired in the offseason, but playing that long on an injured MCL surely did additional damage. Even if Tom Brady is feeling great on the field during camp, he's 44 and the season rests on his shoulders. If Tom Brady plays just one drive, an unnecessary hit could cause an issue with his injury. Why risk your QB in his 40s in a preseason game that is meaningless to him.

#2 - Proven that Tom Brady doesn't need preseason reps

Super Bowl LV

This goes along with #1. With COVID-19, the NFL didn't have the benefit of a preseason, so how did Tom Brady respond? He took his new team to a Super Bowl in his first year at 43. Any reps Tom Brady needs can come from training camp and joint practice exhibitions. It's not necessary and it could be a risk for his season.

#3 - Tampa Bay needs to see more live reps from other QBs on depth chart

Again, this goes with #1. If Tom Brady were to be injured this year or actually retire next season, the backups are not ready to take over. You can take out the risk and put in the inexperienced backups to get battle-ready. Blaine Gabbert is an 11-year veteran and currently the best option at QB2, regardless of the 64th overall pick QB Kyle Trask. Trask understands the playbook, but has had issues with the speed of the NFL and his accuracy. Ryan Griffin could be on the roster bubble, but the team could use Tom Brady's snaps to get a better take on Griffin.