NFL Rumors: How coronavirus is delaying Tom Brady's contract with Bucs

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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers had the perfect plan to lure Tom Brady from the New England Patriots.

But they didn't account for a global pandemic.

Brady was expected to sign with the Bucs on Wednesday after free agency began at 4 p.m. ET, but as of Wednesday night, the two sides reportedly were still finalizing contract language.

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According to Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio, you can blame the novel coronavirus in part for the holdup.

As Florio explained in an article Thursday, the NFL outlined new procedures for player physicals as COVID-19 restricts travel: A player signing with a new team can have a "local, neutral physician" perform the physical wherever he is, rather than traveling to have his new team's doctor conduct the physical.

But the league also allows players to refuse to take that "local" physical, which Florio suggested may be the case with Brady and the Bucs.

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"(If) Brady set the terms and the Bucs ... agreed to them, the only thing that it can be is that the Bucs want Brady to take a physical and he doesn’t want to take one," Florio wrote.

ESPN's Jeff Darlington pushed back on Florio's suggestion, however, reporting that Brady has found a doctor in New York to administer the physical.

If that's the case and Brady's physical goes off without a hitch, then he should officially become a Buccaneer sometime Thursday.

But the coronavirus pandemic already has caused plenty of disruption, so there may be more developments yet to come here.

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