Tom Brady is taking the prospect of retirement more seriously than ever

• Tom Brady is 44 years old, but still playing as well as he has ever played.
• Brady said he was going to take some time to decide what's next.

Tom Brady's future is up in the air.

After the Buccaneers' season ended on Sunday with a loss to the Rams by way of a last-second field goal, Brady walked off the field in Tampa Bay for what could be the final time.

Before the game, a few reports said Brady was weighing retirement, and his status for the 2022 season was uncertain despite having a year left on his contract with the Buccaneers.

Since the loss that ended his season, Brady has politely declined to give any real hint either way to his potential retirement, but his answers when asked are telling. At the very least, he's thinking about it.

Speaking on his podcast "Let's Go!" Brady was clear that no decision, either way, had been made.

"I think the point is there's no really rush for me to figure out what's next," Brady said. "I'll know when I know."

"It's been six straight months of football, every day consumed by day in and day out football. I think now it's time to spend some time with my family, spend some time with my kids. We had waffles together this morning which was really nice."

At 44 years old, no one would fault him for hanging up his cleats. But at the same time, Brady, at 44, just finished arguably the best statistical season of his career. There's no actual football reason for him to hang them up, either.

But as Brady mentioned, waffles are really nice. Family is a high priority in his mind when contemplating his NFL future.

"As I've gotten older, I think the best part is, football is extremely important to my life. It means a lot to me. I care a lot about what we're trying to accomplish as a team, and I care a lot about my teammates," Brady said.

"The biggest difference now that I'm older is I have kids now too. And I care about them a lot as well. They've been my biggest supporters. My wife has been my biggest supporter. It pains her to see me get hit out there, and she deserves what she needs from me as a husband, and my kids deserve what they need from me as a dad.

"I'm going to spend some time with them and give them what they need because they've really been giving me what I need the last six months to do what I love to do."

Brady was clear about one thing: he is not interested in a retirement tour. Whenever his last NFL season happens, whether it was this year, or comes next year, or sometime after that, Brady doesn't plan on letting us know until the season is over.

"I think that would be distracting for me," Brady said when asked of a potential retirement tour.

"My enjoyment comes from not a recognition of what I've accomplished as a player in the league. My enjoyment comes from competition. ... Yesterday, I was thinking about competing. I was thinking this whole year about competing. I wasn't thinking about anything other than that."

Brady had previously said he would like to play until he is 45 years old. If he plans on sticking to that goal, it means he'll be back for at least one more season in the NFL.

But plans change, and if Brady feels like it's time to make good on a promise to his family, he's already done more than enough on the football field to secure his status as the greatest of all time.