The San Francisco 49ers threw around the idea this offseason of a Kyle Shanahan offense run by Tom Brady rather than Jimmy Garoppolo. Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk would have you believe that the team seriously considered it, despite Shanahan and general manager John Lynch saying otherwise.
Regardless, the 49ers decided to move forward with Garoppolo and even kept their quarterback in the loop during their entire thought process.
"The one thing I can say about the whole situation was Kyle and John were very honest with me the whole time," Garoppolo told The Athletic last week. "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."
Garoppolo completed 69.1 percent of his passes for 3,978 yards with 27 touchdowns and 13 interceptions in his first full NFL season as a starter, leading the 49ers to the Super Bowl.
NBC Sports analyst Chris Simms, who is a close friend of Shanahan's, believes the flirtation with the idea of adding Brady this offseason will motivate Garoppolo.
"I think what they're trying to tell him there too is, 'We think you can play better, and, actually, we don't think you kind of played up to the standards we expect all the way through the year, too,'" Simms told Florio on Pro Football Talk Live.
"I think that's something that Jimmy Garoppolo is going to be able to take away from this to realize, 'OK, yeah, they were truthful with me, and then the reality of the situation is that they're kind of saying that to me too. I need to buckle down on whatever it is, the details that they might feel, as an organization, I'm not quite as good at, or whatever it is on the field.'
"I think that, ultimately, is going to make Jimmy Garoppolo a better player."
You can listen to the entire conversation between Simms and Florio below.