Patriots insider believes Tom Brady to 49ers chatter is real

While everyone else seems to be content with throwing around wild speculation, NBC Sports Boston reporter and Patriots insider, Tom Curran, believes the discussion surrounding the possibility of quarterback Tom Brady landing with the San Francisco 49ers is real. He notes that the New England Patriots and the Tennessee Titans are the leaders to land the future Hall of Famer, but that the 49ers are "closing hard" on the quarterback.

Curran spoke with Adam Schein of SiriusXM and was asked if he feels the Brady-to-49ers chatter is real.

"I do," Curran responded.

The reporter was then asked if the desire seems to be on Brady or San Francisco's part.

"I think it's from both," Corran answered. "I think that there's an appeal. What's interesting about that is the Patriots sent Jimmy Garoppolo out there for such short collateral. Could (Bill) Belichick say, 'Hey, why don't you just sign this guy when he becomes available for two years? I'll take Jimmy back. He'll get you the Super Bowl that you probably could have had this year if you had Brady, and we'll start fresh.'

"It would be interesting to me to find out whether or not (that happened). I think that the Niners can release Jimmy Garoppolo outright, and suffer no consequences."

Curran goes on to state that he is convinced Belichick would absolutely be receptive to having Garoppolo return to the Patriots.

There is no doubt that Belichick, who reportedly wanted to have Garoppolo eventually replace Brady, would welcome the 49ers quarterback back. However, there seems to be a whole lot of wild speculation in Curran's narrative concerning the thought process by Belichick surrounding the trade that sent Garoppolo to San Francisco.

As noted several times here, the 49ers have already verbally committed to Garoppolo moving forward. That hasn't, however, been enough to stop this kind of speculation.

"We're extremely proud of Jimmy and committed to Jimmy moving forward," general manager John Lynch said last week at the NFL Scouting Combine. "He's our guy. As I've said, from the day he walked into our building, he made us better, and we continue to feel that's the case. And that's the most exciting think about him, is the room for growth. He's not come close to hitting his ceiling."

RELATED Patriots insider Tom Curran clarifies his comments about Tom Brady, 49ers

While many have been speculating on the possibility of Brady landing with the 49ers, the benefits of such an arrangement seem very one-sided. It would be a storybook ending for the quarterback, but would only be a short-term situation for San Francisco and could avert the long-term success Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan seek. Brady will be 43 years old at the start of the 2020 season.

Then you have to question whether or not replacing Garoppolo with an aging Brady would even be considered an upgrade at this point in the two players' careers. Garoppolo is 14 years younger than Brady.

Also absent in any of these discussions is the belief that Belichick is more than willing to allow Brady to walk and would probably welcome Garoppolo back with open arms. Why would the 49ers desire the opposite?

The best tweet of the day on this topic may be from Chris Biderman of the Sacramento Bee.

One way or another, all of this wild speculation will end in a couple of weeks.

H/t to Grant Cohn of the Santa Rosa Press Democrat for the find.