Somehow this is still a thing. The steam to the “rumors,” for lack of a better word, tying free agent quarterback Tom Brady to the 49ers won’t go away.
We outlined in early February, when the take first surfaced, why letting go of quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo for a soon-to-be 43-year-old Brady is a terrible idea that a forward-thinking 49ers franchise couldn’t conceivably consider.
Since then, head coach Kyle Shanahan has thrown his support behind Garoppolo. So has general manager John Lynch.
The latest round of Brady-to-49ers-mania was spurred by NBC Sports Boston’s Tom Curran, who told Mad Dog Sports Radio about Brady’s future, “It’s either going to be, to me, it’s either going to be New England or Tennessee, with the 49ers closing hard on the outside.”
Curran, a well-respected, well-sourced New England sportswriter, later tweeted a clarification that the 49ers aspect of his discussion was “more amused spitballing rooted in a shred of possibility.”
Nevertheless, the rumor mill churns on. Curran even wrote a column where he backtracked on his spitballing and instead doubled down and highlighted Brady’s desire to play in San Francisco, and Shanahan’s lack of trust in Garoppolo’s decision-making.
Shanahan’s distrust of Garoppolo was at least a little present in the six quarters following his interception late in the first half of the divisional round against the Vikings. He threw six passes the rest of that game, then eight in the NFC championship. Shanahan also handcuffed the offense late in the first half in the Super Bowl by letting clock run after a defensive stop rather than using a timeout to give the offense more time to work. He explained the decision as a choice to make sure the Chiefs’ offensive possessions were limited.
That still doesn’t mean the 49ers are actively looking to part ways with their quarterback.
Let’s forget the speculation and conjecture for a moment.
Here are the facts:
- Tom Brady is from the San Francisco Bay Area
- Tom Brady is an unrestricted free agent
- The 49ers could create the cap space to sign him
- Cutting Jimmy Garoppolo would only come with a $4 million cap hit
All of those things being facts does not equate to the 49ers signing Brady and getting rid of Garoppolo. Just because a thing “can” happen doesn’t mean it will.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Media put it best in a segment on NFL Network on Wednesday:
“A lot of the same people who are trusted sources on their own guys, are fantastically entertaining rumormongers on other guys. And it’s a lot of fun, and yes, the ‘Tom Brady potentially to the San Francisco 49ers’ was something that was popular in the rumor and gossip circles. The problem is at this point I just have not been able to substantiate any interest from the 49ers’ standpoint besides saying like, ‘yes. Theoretically anything is possible’ … So while this is theoretically possible and fun to talk about, I haven’t found anything to substantiate it at this point.”
Perhaps the entertainment value of this story line outdoes the logic and is keeping the rumor alive.
However, it’s nearly impossible to envision the 49ers selling the idea of parting ways with a 28-year-old quarterback who went 13-3 and took a team to a Super Bowl coming off a torn ACL in his first full year as a starter. It’s even more difficult to conjure a realistic scenario where they do that in favor of a 42-year-old quarterback who was worse than the 28-year-old quarterback the previous season.
San Francisco was lauded for its culture and the tight-knit locker room they’ve developed under Shanahan and general manager John Lynch. Cutting ties with Garoppolo would put a pretty significant dent in that and set a pretty tough precedent for the organization moving forward.
There’s also a financial element where the 49ers, already strapped for cap space, may have to tie up all of their limited cash in Brady while sacrificing the ability to re-sign Arik Armstead, Jimmie Ward and Emmanuel Sanders.
Not to mention if San Francisco wanted to bring in a new quarterback, there are a slew of options available in free agency who aren’t turning 43 and are probably better than Brady at this point. The reigning NFC champs would be a popular destination for anyone if they made their quarterback job available.
It wouldn’t be unreasonable if the 49ers, or more specifically Shanahan, aren’t sold on Garoppolo as their quarterback for the next 10 years. There are definite flaws in his game when it comes to decision-making and throws down the field. Lynch said at the combine they’re convinced he hasn’t reached his ceiling though, implying they believe he’ll be better in his second full season as a starter.
The 2020 season will go a long way toward painting the 49ers’ future at quarterback, but Tom Brady isn’t going to be part of it. No matter how fun it is to talk about.