Insider offers update on if Tom Brady will call NFL games for Fox

There's yet another sign retired quarterback Tom Brady plans to eventually call NFL games for Fox, despite some recent chatter.

In a column shared on Wednesday, NFL insider Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated noted Brady is spending portions of his "gap year" away from football preparing to become Fox's lead NFL analyst in 2024. 

"I’ve heard Brady’s already studied broadcasters in other sports (golf commentator Johnny Miller is one) to try and learn the craft, and plans to spend a good chunk of time in the fall, and so I think he’s going to be pretty good at it," Breer responded to a reader who asked if Brady will be "a liability in the booth" as a broadcaster. 

"As good as Tony Romo or Greg Olsen were coming out of the gate? Maybe. Maybe not," Breer continued. 

Multiple noteworthy NFL personalities have openly suggested since the end of the 2022 season that Brady will never call a game for Fox even though the parties agreed to a 10-year deal reportedly worth $375M following the 2021 campaign. The seven-time Super Bowl champion took to Instagram in May to pour cold water over such speculation, though, and he's since repeatedly insisted he's retired from playing, for good, and committed to embracing a new football-related career. 

Even Breer isn't entirely convinced, however. 

"I think there’s a better chance of Brady choosing not to go to the booth at all than there is of him just completely falling on his face when he gets there," Breer wrote. 

Breer also wondered if Brady will "actually go through with" working for Fox assuming the 45-year-old becomes a limited partner of the Las Vegas Raiders this fall, as expected. 

ESPN's Seth Wickersham and Adam Schefter previously reported that Fox "blessed" Brady's investment in the Raiders. However, it's thought other owners and executives may view Brady calling games while serving as a limited partner with any franchise as a "clear conflict of interest." 

For now, Brady is merely a student of the broadcasting game who may or may not experience a change of heart regarding his latest retirement between the middle of July and the fall months.