Tom Brady is returning to Gillette Stadium in Foxborough for the first time as a broadcaster. ESPN insider Adam Schefter confirmed Thursday that Fox Sports has assigned Brady to call the Green Bay Packers versus New England Patriots game in Week 9 of the 2026 NFL season.
Brady spent 20 seasons with the Patriots before retiring in February 2023, making this one of the most emotionally charged broadcasting assignments of the season.
NFL, Tom Brady
Apr 1, 2026; Miami, Florida, USA; Tom Brady attends the game between the Miami Heat and the Boston Celtics at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
Brady is in his third season as Fox’s lead color analyst alongside play-by-play voice Kevin Burkhardt. He signed a 10-year, $375 million deal with the network when he retired, making him the highest-paid sports broadcaster in American television history at the time. Fox has deployed him for premium matchups throughout his tenure, but none has carried this level of personal history.
Brady’s return to New England arrives shortly after a controversy surrounding Super Bowl LXI between the Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks. NFL insider Adam Schefter broke the Week 9 assignment on X, confirming Brady will call the Packers-Patriots game on Fox.
The news drew immediate fan reaction across social media. One user wrote: “Every time Drake Maye makes a good throw.” Another commented, “Bro looks like Jim Carrey.” A third noted: “With Tom Brady in Vegas, the Raiders get zero prime time games. @NFL wtf.” A fourth added: “No way Tom’s team approved that image of him.”
The Week 9 game is one of the more compelling matchups on the 2026 schedule for a non-divisional regular-season game. New England is in year two of its rebuild under head coach Mike Vrabel, with second-year quarterback Drake Maye entering the season as one of the most closely watched young QBs in the league. ESPN confirmed that Brady’s booth assignment is part of Fox’s broader effort to pair their marquee analyst with high-story-value matchups throughout the fall.
Brady’s history at Gillette Stadium is unmatched in the franchise’s history. He won six of his seven Super Bowl titles as a Patriot, went 6-3 in the playoffs at Gillette Stadium, and led the franchise to 17 consecutive AFC East division titles between 2001 and 2019. The Athletic reported that Brady has spoken publicly about wanting to eventually visit the organization in a capacity that celebrates his legacy there, and the broadcasting assignment gives him that platform.
The Super Bowl LXI controversy added an awkward backdrop to Brady’s relationship with the Patriots after New England defeated Seattle 27-24 in overtime for their first championship since Brady’s final win in February 2019. Brady declined to pick a side when pressed by reporters, drawing criticism from Patriots alumni Tedy Bruschi and Wes Welker, and later said on his Let’s Go podcast that his Fox broadcaster role prevented him from choosing publicly. Critics argued his two decades in New England should override any broadcasting ethics concerns.
Tom Brady’s Broadcasting Career Adds New Layer to His Patriots Legacy
Brady’s return to Foxborough as a broadcaster comes months after he created a separate stir by publicly revealing he had inquired about returning to the NFL as a player.Brady told reporters in early 2026 he had looked into a possible playing comeback but was blocked because the league does not allow active team owners to also suit up, a restriction tied to his minority ownership stake in the Las Vegas Raiders.
Brady serves as a strategic advisor to the Raiders and attends coaching meetings and personnel discussions, a dual role that has drawn questions about conflicts of interest when Fox assigns him to cover AFC West matchups. The Week 9 Patriots game carries no such conflict since New England and Las Vegas occupy different conferences, and Fox has assigned Brady to multiple NFC matchups this season to remove the ownership question entirely. The Packers-Patriots assignment is the most anticipated of those NFC assignments.
Drake Maye finished his rookie season completing 64.3 percent of his passes for 2,840 yards with 15 touchdowns and nine interceptions across 13 starts. He is widely viewed as one of the two or three most promising young quarterbacks in the NFL heading into 2026.
Brady has called 48 regular-season games and one Super Bowl for Fox in his first two broadcasting seasons. His Week 9 return to Gillette Stadium will mark his first time in Foxborough since his retirement ceremony in June 2023. How New England fans receive him, especially after the Super Bowl neutrality controversy, will be one of the most-watched storylines of the regular season.