No one seems to be taking Tom Brady's retirement all that seriously

• Tom Brady announced his retirement from the NFL after the 2021 season.
• Despite his announcement, no one really seems to be sure he's actually done playing football.

In February, Tom Brady officially announced his retirement after 22 seasons in the NFL. The only problem is no one seems to believe him.

Despite telling the world he would hang up his cleats, most reports about Brady's potential future have included the possibility of an NFL return, either after a year or two or even close to the start of next season.

Mike Florio at ProFootballTalk has been one of the most vocal advocates of Brady's potential comeback, writing in late February that he believes Brady will return to play for the San Francisco 49ers in 2022.

"What have we heard over and over regarding Brady's football career?" Florio wrote. "What more does he have to prove? Nothing. But he has never played for the team he grew up rooting for. And that team — the 49ers — has a Super Bowl-ready roster. Just add quarterback."

Florio's fellow NBC Sports writer Peter King was a bit more cautious but certainly didn't dismiss the possibility of one last run by the GOAT.

"As for now, I don't think Brady retired with the idea of I'll come back when someone needs a QB this fall, or next year," King wrote. "I think he retired with the intent of retiring. Just as he once said he wanted to play till he's 45 and changed his mind, he could change his mind on staying retired too. We'll see."

Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht raised some eyebrows about Brady's potential return.

"We always leave the light on for a guy like Tom Brady," Licht joked during an interview with "Good Morning Football."

But the most puzzling comments on Brady's retirement might be the ones from Brady himself.

Speaking on his podcast "Let's Go!" just a week after his announcement, Brady told co-host Jim Gray that eventhough he was retired, he would "never say never" regarding a potential comeback.

A few weeks later, Brady fanned the flames even further while appearing as a guest on Fred Couples' radio show, giving a long answer about what the future holds that certainly didn't rule out a return to the NFL.

Fueling the speculation further was a series of tweets from player-turned-commentator Rich Ohrnberger. He reported that just a year after winning the Super Bowl together, the relationship between Brady and Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians had gotten tense.

While Arians vehemently denied the existence of any rift between himself and Brady, Arians has since insisted that if Brady did decide to come out of retirement, the Buccaneers would not work with Brady to help him leave Tampa.

Technically, Arians is right in his assessment. Given how the Buccaneers restructured Brady's deal heading into the 2021 NFL season, Brady is still tied to the Buccaneers for another season.

That said, Brady's restructuring was a move made not to lock him in for another year but rather to give Tampa Bay the necessary cap space to retain other players after their Super Bowl season.

If the rumblings of Brady's potential return are true, his retirement could be seen as retrospect as a negotiating tactic of sorts. In his absence, the Buccaneers will have to move forward and make other plans at quarterback. Once they do, Brady could say he's ready to come back, but given Tampa had already moved on, say he's ready to play elsewhere, potentially in San Francisco or at any other team with a roster that is ready for a star quarterback to lead to a Super Bowl.

Still, there's a long way to go before we get to that point. For now, the GOAT is retired. If that changes, he'll be sure to let us know. But given the amount of smoke surrounding his potential un-retirement, don't be too surprised if there turns out to be fire.