By now, you are probably tired of all of the rumors and speculation surrounding the possibility of Tom Brady joining the San Francisco 49ers. Tom Curran of NBC Sports Boston, who this week contributed to the spread of the chatter, later admitted that his role in doing so was unintentional.
The reality is that Brady joining the 49ers would benefit the future Hall of Famer, and any team — like the New England Patriots — that might end up with Jimmy Garoppolo as a result.
The party that would benefit the least is San Francisco. Giving up a 28-year-old quarterback who just took the team to the Super Bowl for a quarterback who will turn 43 in August and is coming off one of his worst seasons isn't necessarily viewed as an upgrade.
With negotiations between Brady and the Patriots reportedly going nowhere, the quarterback will likely hit free agency on March 18. With that date just two weeks away, Mike Giardi of NFL Network suggests another explanation for Brady being linked to the 49ers.
Giardi reports that the market for Brady may not be as strong as many are predicting. He suggests that these rumors may be the result of leaks intended to create more interest in the quarterback.
They did speak. Don't know the tenor of it. Do know that the Brady market is not nearly as strong as is being portrayed and this may explain the number of leaks and attempts to link the QB with different organizations, including San Fran. #staytuned https://t.co/qetkCthVQB
— Michael Giardi (@MikeGiardi) March 4, 2020
While speculation itself, Giardi's explanation seems to make more sense than the assumption that San Francisco would happily exchange Garoppolo for Brady, and allow the former to head back to New England at a discount.
Curran even suggested that the 49ers might do Patriots coach Bill Belichick "a solid" by releasing Garoppolo outright, allowing New England to swoop in and re-sign him.
Meanwhile, it was just last week that the 49ers publicly committed to Garoppolo.
"We're extremely proud of Jimmy and committed to Jimmy moving forward," general manager John Lynch said 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."
While head coach Kyle Shanahan also praised his quarterback, he opted not to discuss Brady when asked about him last week.
"He's on another team's roster," Shanahan said via NBC Sports Bay Area. "I cannot talk about anybody until (the beginning of the new league year)."
