You know the story by now. Tom Brady wanted to join the San Francisco 49ers after the 2019 season. The team was coming off a Super Bowl appearance and had to look pretty enticing to the future Hall of Fame quarterback. Instead, San Francisco opted to stick with Jimmy Garoppolo. Brady went on to lead the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a championship while the 49ers continue to fall just short.
Three years later, the 49ers roster is still stacked. The team is coming off its third NFC title game appearance in four years and remains an attractive destination. Brady is retired, though. Of course, that's what we briefly thought last offseason.
So why won't the Brady-to-49ers talk die? You can thank Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. He recently speculated that the 49ers might be the perfect destination to convince the 45-year-old quarterback to end his retirement for the second consecutive offseason.
"Now, with Jimmy Garoppolo finally moving on and real questions about Lance and Purdy, why shouldn't the 49ers make a move for Brady?" Wrote Florio. "Their championship window remains open, even if they've been unable to fly through it. Brady could be the missing piece to the first San Francisco Super Bowl victory in 29 years — since the 29th Super Bowl."
Both Lance and Purdy are coming off significant injuries. Lance suffered a season-ending ankle injury on September 18 but is expected to be a full participant during organized team activities (OTAs) in May. Purdy awaits his surgery to repair the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) tear in his right elbow sustained during the NFC Championship Game.
Brady likely remains retired this time. But one NFL columnist believes the 49ers should at least see if they can persuade the quarterback otherwise.
"We don't know what Purdy is going to be in '23, but we'll just do a year of Brady, and then we can go back to our model with [the] quarterback on a rookie deal and build around him," Mike Silver told Colin Cowherd on The Colin Cowherd Podcast. "I think, if you're the Niners, you ask Brady again. I think you let the dust settle for a while.
"It just makes too much sense now, especially Purdy, with the surgery being pushed back, which, A, is kind of a sign. Like this whole 'He's going to be back at six months' is not written in stone. B, it does push the timeline already very, very close, best case scenario, [to the start of the season]."
Purdy's surgery was scheduled for February 22 but was postponed due to inflammation remaining in the quarterback's arm. Dr. Keith Meister, who will perform the surgery, may opt for a hybrid procedure involving the reconstruction of the ligament with the internal brace, increasing that recovery time to seven to nine months, per Purdy.
"And they won't know until they get in whether they have to do a complete Tommy John surgery," Silver continued. "We're parsing terms, but [its] the kind of surgery that would probably knock him out for most or all of the year, or this one where they think it'll be six months. And, of course, you never know if it's going to be what it was before, but you hope so.
"I think they call Brady again, and if not, then you think about Aaron [Rodgers]. But I think you're looking more [at bringing in] a Jacoby Brissett or an Andy Dalton or a Matt Ryan or someone as a hedge, with Lance, as you try to get him to a point where he can be your guy."