In the end, the Niners' decision-makers figured a move from Jimmy Garoppolo to a 42-year-old quarterback at the end of his career, no matter the accomplishments, didn't make long-term sense for the organization.
Lynch joined 95.7 The Game on Thursday and shared that he and Shanahan realized early on that Brady might have an interest in returning to the team he cheered for as a kid.
"Long before anybody called up and said, 'Hey, he'd be interested,'" Lynch said on the Joe, Lo and Dibs show, "we kind of said, 'Hey, OK, this is really weird and odd, number one, that arguably one of the greatest players of all-time becomes free.' And then the fact that there's a connection. Kyle and I looked at each other and just said, 'Hey, is this something we should be looking at?'"
Lynch and Shanahan proceeded to watch film of Brady for about two days to determine if the move was something they should consider pursuing. That included looking at the film of Garoppolo during his time within Shanahan's offense.
"And the cool things is," Lynch continued, "kind of at the same time, we both looked at each other and said, 'You know what? We've got what we believe to be the long-term answer in our building right now.' We felt like it was our duty to take a quick look at Tom, and this was nothing to disparage him, but that's not going to be a long-term answer.
"We figured we did what we think was the responsible thing to do. We took a good look, but the answer is right here in our building. And I think the coolest thing for us is we come out of that more convicted in who Jimmy Garoppolo is, and what he means to this team, than ever before."
Lynch's words mirror what Shanahan said this week during an interview with The Athletic.
"Once we realized and heard this could be realistic, this isn't just talk, we looked into it all," Shanahan said, "especially with the respect we have for Tom and everything, and how great of a player he is. We looked into it to try to see if it would be better for our team this year and in the future. When we weighed it all together, we didn't think it would.
"We felt great with where we were at, and kind of confirmed how we are with Jimmy."
In the end, looking into the possibility of adding Brady reaffirmed the 49ers that they already have their long-term answer.
You can listen to the entire conversation with Lynch below.
More San Francisco 49ers News
-
John Lynch: 49ers plan to make it 'very attractive' for Robert Saleh to stay
The San Francisco 49ers are focused on closing out the regular season strong and positioning themselves for a deep playoff run. Still, one offseason storyline is already drawing attention—and could surface even before the postseason ends. What happens with defensive... -
49ers injury update: John Lynch doesn't rule out Fred Warner's playoff return
The San Francisco 49ers aren't ruling out the possibility that star linebacker Fred Warner could return this postseason. Warner suffered a dislocated and fractured right ankle in Week 6, and early expectations were that he wouldn't play again until next year. Now, that timeline... -
49ers injury update: John Lynch addresses George Kittle's status for Bears game
San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch joined Bay Area radio station KNBR on Friday. He discussed the status of tight end George Kittle, who is recovering from an ankle injury suffered Monday night against the Indianapolis Colts. The setback has put Kittle's... -
49ers playoff push: John Lynch says San Francisco is battle-tested
The NFL schedule makers stacked some challenging competition at the end of the San Francisco 49ers' schedule. On Sunday night, the 49ers edged the Chicago Bears at Levi's Stadium in a nail-biter between two NFC contenders. Next up is a showdown with massive implications: the...