NFL Insider Says Tom Brady May Still Find Way To Get Traded To 49ers
BOSTON (CBS) -- Tom Brady isn't retired. Tom Brady will play in 2022. And he'll do that for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Or so we all believe.
Despite Brady announcing that he'll be back with the Bucs, and despite Bruce Arians' steadfast statement at the combine that Tampa will not be trading away Brady, Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer said this week that there remains a chance that Brady can end up on his hometown San Francisco 49ers next season.
While Breer stated that the Bucs have "shut the door" on granting a trade request from Brady, he said that the legendary quarterback still has a route to get that done, if he so desires.
"I think the 49ers are leaving a light on for him. And I think Tom Brady has more relationships in that Niners organization than people realize," Breer said on Boston Sports Tonight. "I personally think the Niners feel like they're in a very strong spot now because they've got Trey Lance, who they feel good about but maybe could use a little bit more seasoning. 'So if we've gotta go with Trey Lance, we'll go with Trey Lance. In the meantime we've got a championship roster that went to a championship game, that was in the Super Bowl three years ago. And hey, if Tom Brady wants to walk into this, if there's some way we can acquire him in July and August, we're ready for that, too.'"
Of course, that side of the story doesn't get into how the 49ers could go about getting Brady, especially considering the Buccaneers seem to be hell-bent on not trading away a player of Brady's rare caliber. With many people speculating that Brady's "retirement" was more about getting out of Tampa than anything else, it seems as though the Bucs would not and will not budge on that point.
Yet for as long as people connected with the NFL continue to say such a move is possible, the speculation of Brady playing somewhere else -- and especially his hometown -- will continue.