A Buccaneers staffer sprinted into the end zone to retrieve Tom Brady's 700th career touchdown to make sure it wasn't accidentally held for ransom

• Tom Brady threw the 700th touchdown pass of his career on Sunday in overtime against the Bills.
• As soon as the ball crossed the goal line, a Buccaneers staffer sprinted to retrieve the ball.

A heads-up play from a Buccaneers staffer might have saved Tom Brady from having to negotiate to retrieve a historic football for the second time this season.

On Sunday against the Buffalo Bills, Brady threw the 700th touchdown pass of his career in dramatic fashion.

After the Bills rallied with 17 fourth-quarter points to force overtime, the Buccaneers defense forced a punt from Buffalo during the opening possession of the extra period.

Brady and the Buccaneers' offense moved the ball to just short of midfield, at which point Brady connected with wide receiver Breshad Perriman for a 58-yard walk-off touchdown.

Perriman was bolting on the play, but there was a person on the field running with even greater intensity — the Buccaneers staffer charged with retrieving Tom Brady's historic touchdown ball.

Just as Perriman crosses into the end zone, a Buccaneers staff member can be seen sprinting into the picture to pick up the ball that Perriman dropped.

It was a great heads-up play from the staffer no matter the context, but it came with an extra bit of urgency given what happened the last time Brady threw a touchdown worthy of NFL history.

In October, Brady threw the 600th regular-season touchdown of his career — he's now at 700 total touchdowns, including the postseason — caught by wide receiver Mike Evans.

Rather than save the ball, Evans gave it to a fan in the front row, seemingly unaware of its significance.

With the fan in possession of the ball, estimated to be worth as much as $500,000, the Buccaneers had to negotiate quite a deal to retrieve it, including signed jerseys from both Brady and Evans, Evans' game cleats, and a pair of season tickets for the next two seasons. Brady also wound up giving the fan a Bitcoin as a part of a promotional campaign.

Because of the quick-thinking of one Buccaneers employee on the sidelines on Sunday, Brady avoided a second set of similar negotiations.