Tom Brady is returning to the field for a flag football tournament in Saudi Arabia

Legendary quarterback Tom Brady was announced as the headliner for a new flag football event featuring both active and retired NFL players that will take place March 21, 2026 — in Saudi Arabia.

Tom Brady will return to competitive football, sort of.

The seven-time Super Bowl winning quarterback was announced on Monday as the headliner for a new flag football event featuring both active and retired NFL players that will take place March 21, 2026 — in Saudi Arabia.

According to Fanatics, the sports merchandiser partly behind the event, Brady will make his "first official return to the field" since retirement by taking part in a three-team round-robin tournament to be broadcast by FOX Sports and played under the same five-on-five format to be used when flag football makes its Olympics debut in 2028, on a 50-yard field. Whether that means Brady will officially be throwing passes for the first time since 2023 wasn't explicitly spelled out. But each team will be coached by an active NFL coach: Las Vegas' Pete Carroll, Denver's Sean Payton and San Francisco's Kyle Shanahan.

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady during his first start of an NFL football game against the Indianapolis Colts on Sept. 30, 2001.Winslow Townson / AP fileActive NFL players Christian McCaffrey of San Francisco, Sauce Gardner of the New York Jets, CeeDee Lamb of Dallas, Saquon Barkley of Philadelphia, Myles Garrett of Cleveland, Tyreek Hill of Miami and Brock Bowers and Maxx Crosby of Las Vegas all were announced as taking part, though how much each would participate on the field in the offseason event was not detailed.

The Saudi Arabia-backed event is co-organized by Turki Al-Sheikh, the chairman of the country’s General Entertainment Authority, and is the latest piece of sports real estate bearing the imprint of the 44-year-old.