The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be under a microscope this season.
The acquisition of six-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady, who many people consider the best quarterback in NFL history, has instantly transformed the Bucs into legit Super Bowl contenders.
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His arrival has made whatever the Bucs do, good and bad, front page news in the football world. Buccaneers tight end Cameron Brate, who was among the players at Brady's private workout with teammates on Tuesday, has become well aware of this new reality.
"(It's) pretty ordinary, I think, to be having throwing sessions in the offseason, even given these circumstances," Brate told SiriusXM NFL Radio. "Guys kinda all around the league are able to work out and throw, but definitely a different kind of attention and spotlight and scrutiny we're under in Tampa with our new offseason acquisition."
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What was Brate's first interaction with Brady like? The Bucs tight end has nothing but good things to say so far, and he also explained the unique situation of having to teach the quarterback the offense when it's usually the other way around.
"It was pretty normal. He seems like a really down-to-earth, good guy, great teammate," Brate said. "It's a little weird now working with him at the beginning of his Bucs tenure because we're kind of teaching him our verbage -- it's kind of a backwards way of how it's probably gonna progress during the season with him teaching us a lot about the game and how he sees things. But right now, it's only been a couple weeks with the Bucs and he's trying to figure out what we call stuff, so we're kind of teaching him the offense, which is a little weird."
Brate is one of the players who stands to benefit the most from Brady leading the Buccaneers offense.
Brady has a long, productive history targeting tight ends in the passing game, and even though Tampa Bay has plenty of depth at the position with O.J. Howard and Rob Gronkowski also on the depth chart, Brate has a chance to take his game to a higher level with his new quarterback.
Brate tallied career highs with 57 receptions, 660 yards and eight touchdowns for Tampa Bay in 2016, and it wouldn't be surprising if he posted similar stats with Brady in 2020.