Tom Brady is officially heading back to the gridiron in 2026, but with a unique twist. During the launch of the new Fanatics Studios, the seven-time Super Bowl champion shared a major update regarding the upcoming flag football tournament in Saudi Arabia. He has found the second team captain. 

Jayden Daniels of the Washington Commanders is not only participating in the Fanatics Flag Football Classic in March, but also joining as the second of the three team captains. This is a massive relief for fans, as it means he has recovered from the multiple injuries that plagued his 2025 season. 

“All right, so we got another quarterback,” Brady announced. “Jayden’s going to be another one. It’s going to be competitive.”

Daniels’ participation in this tournament has caught many off guard, considering how his sophomore year went in the NFL. The season started poorly for the 2024 Offensive Rookie of the Year as he sustained a knee sprain in Week 2. When he returned in Week 5, he couldn’t make it through three games due to a hamstring strain in Week 7. By that time, Washington was sitting at 3-4. 

Daniels then returned in Week 9, but ended up suffering a gruesome elbow injury late in the blowout loss, leading to three more missed starts. The situation only got worse in Week 14, when he exited early after falling on his elbow following an interception.

There wasn’t a fourth return, as HC Dan Quinn shut him down for the final three games of 2025, prioritizing his long-term health over the season. 

Despite the plethora of injuries and the Commanders’ compromised season, he was still the most-graded athlete of 2025. The 25-year-old came under the spotlight after his big rookie campaign, where he led the Commanders to the playoffs for the first time in four years and succeeded all the way to the conference championship. Though eventually, they were eliminated at the hands of Philly, Daniels convinced many that he’s the next big thing in football. 

Brady seems to agree with that. While announcing his participation in the Flag Football event in Riyadh, the FOX Sports analyst spoke highly of the young quarterback’s future.

“You know, you’re always looking for like what’s next in the NFL, who’s really going to carry the torch,” Brady said. “And from a retired quarterback, there’s nobody I love seeing out there playing on the field more than Jayden.”

But the two didn’t stick strictly to compliments. They also had fun banter, where the young quarterback joked that Brady was scared to play against him because he retired before Daniels made his debut in the league. This prompted Brady to reply that he planned to treat Daniels the same way he treated his old AFC East rivals, the Jets and the Bills, for two decades. And that will be seen in Riyadh, where the 48-year-old has promised competition. 

The tournament, set for March 21, ‘26, will feature a round-robin format with three teams. Besides Brady and Daniels, Saquon Barkley, CeeDee Lamb, Christian McCaffrey, and Myles Garrett are also set to play in Riyadh. 

Tom Brady teased 2028 Olympics debut

During the event, the five-time Super Bowl MVP hinted that the Riyadh tournament might be the beginning of something big. Flag football is set to make it Olymoic debut in 2028. Even though Brady will be 51 at the time, he is refusing to rule himself out for a spot on Team USA. 

“The journey starts here,” Brady remarked at the Fanatics launch event. “The prep for Riyadh is going to be 2026 and 2027. And maybe, just maybe, a small chance that if it goes well, we’ll see what happens in the Olympics.”

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While Team USA will have plenty of young NFL talent to choose from (also heavily favored to win gold), there’s hardly anyone who has the legendary competitive drive that Brady brings. Certainly, he’s not returning to the NFL, but his passion for the game is “never going to go away,” as he once told Complex Sports. That’s why, when the opportunity presented itself to play once again, even if it’s flag football in Saudi Arabia, Brady almost jumped on it.