Tom Brady Officially Retires, Doesn't Mention Patriots In Goodbye Note

The confusion surrounding Tom Brady's future is finally over ... the quarterback just said he is officially retiring -- though he made one glaring omission in his goodbye note.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB announced on his Instagram page early Tuesday morning that he's done ... saying, "My teammates, coaches, fellow competitors, and fans deserve 100% of me, but right now, it's best I leave the field of play to the next generation of dedicated and committed athletes."

Brady then thanked his family, friends, teammates, coaches and Buccaneers execs in the post ... but he notably made no mention whatsoever of the New England Patriots.

There's no note to Bill Belichick or Robert Kraft -- two guys he spent 20 years of his career with before he bolted for Tampa Bay following the 2019 season.

It's unclear if the omission signals some sort of rift between the QB and the org. -- or if he felt he had already said his appropriate goodbyes to them when he left two years ago.

Either way, Brady's announcement officially ends arguably the greatest sports career ever. Tom played in the NFL for 22 seasons and won seven Super Bowls. He also won three MVP awards and was selected to 15 Pro Bowls.

In his career, he logged 84,520 passing yards and 624 passing touchdowns. He's considered the greatest football player of all time.

As for what's next, Brady has his hands all over several business projects -- but he mentioned in his post he has no real idea what he'll do from here.

"I'm fortunate to have cofounded incredible companies like @autograph.io @bradybrand @tb12sports that I am excited to continue to help build and grow," Brady said, "but exactly what my days will look like will be a work-in-progress. As I said earlier, I am going to take it day by day."

"I know for sure I want to spend a lot of time giving others and trying to enrich other people's lives, just as so many done for me."