The 2020 offseason was easily one of the most fascinating in NFL history for several reasons. Not the least of which was navigating a global pandemic. Yet at the heart of it was the fact that all-time great quarterback Tom Brady was changing teams for the first time after 20 years with the New England Patriots. He had plenty of suitors. As everybody knows, he ultimately ended up with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and went on to win the Super Bowl.
That wasn’t always set in stone though. Other teams had a reasonable shot at him. Based on multiple reports over the past year, it’s generally believed the others involved were the Tennessee Titans, Los Angeles Chargers, and Chicago Bears. As it turns out, Brady may have come quite close to choosing one of them if the team hadn’t bowed out at the very end. He explained in a preview of his appearance on the popular HBO series The Shop.
Brady explains how the conversation went down.
“One of the teams, they weren’t interested at the very end. I was thinking, ‘You’re sticking with that motherf–ker?’”
His phrasing here is quite fascinating. Looking at it from context, the comment could only have been one of two options. The Chargers had no quarterback to stick with, having parted ways with Philip Rivers by that point. This means it was either the Bears or Titans. Tennessee had connections to Brady through head coach Mike Vrabel who was teammates with the quarterback in the 2000s. They’d had Ryan Tannehill the previous year. Chicago of course had Mitch Trubisky.
Looking at this from a realistic viewpoint? It is unlikely Brady was talking about Tennessee. Don’t forget Tannehill had played outstanding after replacing Marcus Mariota in the starting lineup, throwing 22 touchdowns in just 12 games, making the Pro Bowl, and leading the team to the AFC championship. Now Brady is an ultra-competitive guy. He easily could see himself as superior to Tannehill, having dominated him for years when he was with the Miami Dolphins.
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Still, when Trubisky is the other possibility? It’s hard not to think that is who Brady was talking about.
Tom Brady comments raise questions about Bears brass
If it was them he’s talking about, then what in the world compelled them to suddenly back off their pursuit in favor of keeping Trubisky? There are a number of possibilities. None of them overly good. The first being disagreements at the top between Matt Nagy and Ryan Pace. The former wanted a complete change at QB and the latter preferred a competition, which would’ve given his former draft pick one more chance.
There were also salary cap considerations. Brady signed a two-year deal for $50 million from Tampa Bay. That would’ve eaten a ton into the Bears’ cap, which was already looking bleak for the next year once the ramifications of the pandemic truly hit. Perhaps they felt going all-in on a 43-year old Tom Brady wasn’t worth the risk of potentially having to gut a huge chunk of their roster the next offseason.
We’ll likely never know.
Brady doesn’t sound as if he’ll actually reveal which team he was talking about in the episode. So this is all educated guesswork. Still, it isn’t a difficult leap to make. The Bears never seemed to have a cohesive plan at QB last offseason. That resulted in a ton of confusion during the competition between Trubisky and Nick Foles and of course the season itself. It’s little wonder the buzzword this past offseason between Nagy and Pace was “collaboration.”
