TAMPA, Fla. — Tom Brady knows the end of his career is near but had a bitter feeling about the way the 2021 season ended with a 30-27 loss to the eventual Super Bowl champion Rams.

“At the end of the day, I just love the competition on the field,” Brady told ESPN. “And last year was a very bitter ending to a season, and we’ve got to make a lot of corrections and try to improve and put ourselves in a better position to succeed moving forward.”

You have to wonder if one of those corrections was naming Todd Bowles the new Bucs head coach after Bruce Arians abruptly retired to take a front office job.

Brady said after retiring Feb. 1 that he spoke with several members of the organization that he had built relationships with – including Arians – and decided he wanted to continue playing. The Bucs own Brady’s rights and made it clear they weren’t interested in trading them.

In other words, if Brady wanted to play, it would be with the Bucs.

Brady’s announcement that he was ending his retirement came on the eve of free agency. That wasn’t a coincidence. As that deadline approached, Brady said he started seriously thinking about playing again.

“I knew my body, physically, could still do what it could do and obviously, I have a love for the game,” Brady said. “I think I’ll always have a love for the game. I do think physically, I’ll be able to do it. I just felt there was still a place for me on the field.”

But he made it clear, this time it may not be for long.

“I know I don’t have a lot left, I really do,” said Brady, who turns 45 on Aug. 3. “I know I’m at the end of my career. I wish you could go on forever, but it’s just not and football comes at too high a cost now. My kids are getting older and it’s just harder and harder to miss these things.

“But I wanted to give myself and my teammates and our organization another incredible opportunity to accomplish something that we’d all be very proud of.”

BROWNS: Deshaun Watson walked through snow on the way to his first day of work with the Browns. Baker Mayfield was nowhere in sight.

Watson reported to Cleveland’s offseason program Tuesday to restart his career with the Browns, who mortgaged their short-term future by acquiring the controversial quarterback accused of sexual misconduct in a trade last month.

With temperatures in the 30s and late-spring snow falling, the former Houston QB arrived at the team’s facility in Berea, Ohio. The Browns posted a photo on Twitter of Watson, wearing a heavy winter jacket, before he entered the building.

One of the reasons the three-time Pro Bowler and Georgia native, who played at Clemson in South Carolina, initially turned down the Browns in their pursuit before changing his mind was because of Northeast Ohio’s frigid, wintry weather.

Watson lost the one game he played in Cleveland with the Texans as howling winds made it almost impossible to throw.

He’ll have months to acclimate.

The Browns convinced Watson to join him and then traded three first-round draft picks and six selections overall in March to Houston for the 26-year-old, who faces 22 civil lawsuits from women accusing him of sexual misconduct during massage therapy sessions.

TELEVISION: NBC Sports revealed its new “Sunday Night Football” announcing team with analyst Cris Collinsworth returning and being joined by Mike Tirico in the booth and Melissa Stark on the sidelines.

The network said the crew will work for the first time at the Hall of Fame game in Canton, Ohio, on Aug. 4. The Jacksonville Jaguars and Las Vegas Raiders are playing.

Tirico, who has been with NBC since 2016, is replacing Al Michaels calling the play by play. Michaels was hired by Amazon to handle its Thursday night games.

Stark replaces Michele Tafoya, who left after last season.

PANTHERS: Owner David Tepper’s real estate company announced they’ve terminated their agreement with the City of Rock Hill, leaving the future of the NFL team’s planned $800 million headquarters and practice facility up in the air.

The news comes after the Panthers announced last month they were pausing construction on the project after failing to receive bonds from the City of Rock Hill to pay for public infrastructure.

Tepper has invested more than $175 million into the state-of-the-art facility, which is located about 25 miles south of the team’s current downtown stadium and headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina.

SEAHAWKS: Seattle re-signed quarterback Geno Smith as the team began its offseason program.

Smith’s one-year deal became official on the first day players were back in the building for the offseason program.

Smith started three games last season while Russell Wilson was recovering from finger surgery. It was the first time Smith had started more than one game in a season since 2014.

Smith was 65 for 95 for 702 yards, five touchdowns and one interception in the four total games he appeared in. Seattle was 1-2 with Smith as the starter.