Tom Brady’s 2020 free agency threw an uncommon wrench into the market. Arguably the greatest quarterback of all-time hitting the open market had even the Super Bowl runner up kicking the tires to see if adding the six-time Super Bowl winner would be an improvement under center.
Ultimately 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch opted not to pursue the 42-year-old Brady. The rumors of their interest in the former Patriot, who grew up a 49ers fan in San Mateo and expressed interest in playing for his childhood team, took over the offseason.
Neither Shanahan nor Lynch addressed the rumors directly in public, but they were in communication with Garoppolo behind the scenes. Both the head coach and GM said they were transparent with their quarterback throughout the process, and Garoppolo confirmed as much in a conversation with Matt Barrows of the Athletic.
“The one thing I can say about the whole situation was Kyle and John were very honest with me the whole time,” Garoppolo told Barrows. “That’s their job — to put the best team together possible and you’ve got to respect that. So as long as the honesty and truthfulness is there, I respect those guys, I love those guys. And it’s going to be a fun year this year.”
Shanahan told Tim Kawakami on the ‘TK Show’ podcast that it was fun discussing the situation with Garoppolo because they both want him to reach Brady’s level. Shanahan also said in a video conference with reporters that he believes Garoppolo wants to and can be the greatest quarterback of all-time.
The transparency between the team and Garoppolo appears to have been key in keeping their positive relationship from going sour. It’s also worth noting the 49ers never worked Brady out or offered him a contract. Shanahan and Lynch both agreed it didn’t need to go that far after studying to see if they’d actually get better by signing the 20-year veteran.
Garoppolo told Barrows that “it comes with the job,” and that he understood the nature of the NFL head coach’s constant drive to improve.
It’s not the first time Garoppolo’s had his career crossover with Brady’s. He backed up the veteran for four seasons after New England selected him in the second round of the 2014 NFL draft, so he’s familiar with the cachet Brady has in the NFL. For four years in New England Brady was the better player and continued to earn the starting job ahead of the younger Garoppolo.
By 2020, Garoppolo proved to be the better option. With Brady officially in the rearview mirror, Garoppolo can focus on finding a path like Brady’s that makes him the best option for San Francisco over the next decade plus.
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