Tom Brady Rumors: Could Quarterback End Up In San Francisco?
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Tom Brady Watch has been a roller coaster so far this offseason, and Tuesday provided another loopy loop for everyone to consider. While the Patriots and Titans have been the top teams mentioned when it comes to the free agent quarterback, Brady's hometown team has now reportedly entered the mix.
That's right, the San Francisco 49ers are now in the running for Brady, according to both Tom Curran of NBC Sports Boston and Karen Guregian of the Boston Herald. And if Brady heads out west, could that lead to a Jimmy Garoppolo reunion in New England?
You betcha!
Curran jumped on SiriusXM NFL radio on Tuesday and reported that the 49ers were "closing hard on the outside" in the Brady sweepstakes. Guregian's sources confirmed that Curran "might be on to something," she wrote in the Herald on Wednesday.
"If the Niners' interest is mutual and real, which appears the case on both sides, they are the greatest threat to lure Brady away from New England," Guregian wrote. "Between having a roster that was close to winning a Super Bowl last month, having cap maneuverability if GM John Lynch doesn't pick up Garoppolo's option in April and Brady's local roots having grown up in the Bay Area, San Fran would be in the driver's seat to land the six-time Super Bowl champion."
Well, well, well. That's one tasty burger of a Brady rumor.
The 49ers can move on from Garoppolo before his $15.7 million salary becomes guaranteed on April 1. Lynch, who reached out to the Patriots about a Brady trade in 2017 before acquiring Garoppolo for a second-round pick, would probably love to replace the quarterback who almost led San Fran to a Super Bowl title last month with a quarterback who has led the Patriot to six titles over his Hall of Fame career. And San Francisco would make sense for Brady, given his roots to the Bay Area and the 49ers talent on both sides of the ball. It would be an almost perfect win-now situation for both Brady and the 49ers.
And if the dust settles and Belichick ends up with Garoppolo back in New England, the head coach would look pretty darn good.
"And, of course, if the Patriots wind up with Garoppolo, they go forward with the quarterback Belichick originally picked to be his heir," Guregian wrote Wednesday.
In an offseason that has involved over analyzing suites at Gillette Stadium being cleaned out, enhancing audio like Gene Hackman in The Conversation, and head coaches walking the tampering tightrope at the Combine (some better than others), it's only fitting that a dark horse candidate like the 49ers would emerge.