Report: Tom Brady mulled signing with the Saints if …

Tom Brady in a Saints uniform? It could have happened.

Tom Brady will make his Tampa Bay Buccaneers debut Sunday in New Orleans against the Saints. The G.O.A.T. could have been playing for the home team if things had fallen into place, according to a report.

Per Ian Rapoport:

Brady made no secret of the fact that if (Drew) Brees was retiring and heading to the TV booth, Brady would like to replace him. Brady mentioned this, sources say, to a few Saints players, knowing that word would get back. New Orleans was into it, as well, with Brady seen by head coach Sean Payton as the perfect replacement for Brees.

However, when Brees announced he was not done yet, the Brady-to-New-Orleans move died. Meanwhile, it appears the Patriots would not have had an issue with Brady and New Orleans talking, as NBCSports Boston reported the Patriots wouldn’t file tampering charges if a team spoke with Brady before his contract was up. They wanted him to know his market.

The report also says the Bears received consideration by Brady but cold weather sent shivers into his thought process.

Eventually, the Bucs won out over the Los Angeles Chargers, who saw Philip Rivers leave for Indianapolis via free agency.

As for Brady’s Bucs contract:

Brady gets $500,000 if the Bucs make the playoffs. That becomes $750,000 if they win a wild-card game or get a bye, and that becomes $1.25 million if they win a divisional round game, which turns into $1.75 million if they advance to the Super Bowl. It hits the max of $2.25 million if they win the Super Bowl.

As for the personal performance incentives, Brady can hit the max value of $2.25 million if he accomplishes four of five categories (and has a minimum of 224 attempts). Hitting each incentive by itself earns him $562,000, while four of them net him $2.25 million. Those incentives are: top 5 in passer rating, top 5 in passing TDs or 25 or m