Tampa Bay QB Tom Brady won six Super Bowls for the New England Patriots over 20 seasons before signing with the Bucs as a free-agent in March of 2020. At the time, the NFL world knew that Brady’s homecoming at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts would occur during the 2021 season.

Now we have time, date and even an opening spread and moneyline for what could be the most-hyped NFL regular season of the past decade. Tampa Bay is a 3.5-point favorite in Brady’s playing return to the Bay State in Week 4, according to opening line NFL odds posted at FanDuel. Brady and the Bucs are sitting -196 on the moneyline, while the host Patriots are +164.

Bill Belichick gets the first crack at his longtime quarterback on a Sunday night, Oct. 3, in a game that will air on NBC starting at 8:20 p.m. Currently, stadiums in Massachusetts are only allowed to open to 40% capacity. They are expected to expand to 100% in August. There’s no doubt Gillette Stadium will be rocking before and after Brady takes the field on his old, home turf.

Brady led the Buccaneers to a victory in Super Bowl 55 in his rookie season with Tampa Bay. The Bucs boosted their 2020 roster after Brady’s arrival with former Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski and wide receiver Antonio Brown. Both Gronkowski and Brown scored in Tampa Bay’s 31-9 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl on Feb. 7 and will be returning to the Bucs this season.

Tom Brady needs to average 288.5 yards per game in the first 4 weeks to break the NFL's All Time passing yards record

Tom Brady's 2020 yards per game? 289.6

Week 4 matchup? Bucs @ #Patriots

— OMF (@OMFonWEEI) May 12, 2021

The full NFL 2021 schedule was set to be released Wednesday night. NFL Week 1 betting lines and schedule were posted earlier in the day. The time and date of Brady Homecoming was widely reported by multiple media sources with ties to the league.

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Brady, Bucs Among Favorites to Win Super Bowl 56

The Bucs are +650 to repeat in Super Bowl 56 odds at DraftKings. The Chiefs are +525 at William Hill. The Patriots are fetching +3000 at BetMGM, and several other sportsbooks to win their first NFL title without Brady as their QB.

Quarterback Cam Newton signed with New England in late June last year and struggled with Josh McDaniels’ offense and a bout with COVID-19 during the season. The Patriots finished 7-9 in their first 21st Century campaign without Brady on their roster. The Patriots missed the playoffs for the first time since 2008, when Brady was knocked out for the season with a torn ACL in Week 1.

Belichick went on what was an historic spending spree for the Patriots in the aftermath of New England’s abysmal season and Brady’s meteoric success in Tampa Bay. New England added the likes of Hunter Henry, Jonnu Smith, Nelson Agholor and Kyle Van Noy during its spring buying binge. Belichick continued to smash his own norms by drafting a quarterback in the first round for the first time – taking Mac Jones of Alabama at pick No. 15.

In NFL futures betting, the over/under win total for the Patriots is 9 at Unibet, while the Bucs stand at 11.5. New England is +137 to return to the playoffs this season and -167 to remain sidelined in the playoffs. The Bucs are -670 to make the playoffs and +465 to miss the playoffs at the same site.