Tom Brady Wanted To Sign With 49ers But They Thought He Was “Only Marginally” Better Than Jimmy G

As it turns out, when Tom Brady left the New England Patriots his preferred destination wasn’t the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, it was the San Francisco 49ers.

Shortly after the 49ers’ Super Bowl loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, Brady called his former teammate Wes Welker, according to a new book about the New England Patriots dynasty, “It’s Better To Be Feared,” by ESPN reporter Seth Wickersham.

Brady informed Welker, San Francisco’s wide receivers coach, if the 49ers were interested, he would finish his career in the Bay Area after 20 seasons and six Super Bowl titles with the New England Patriots.

According to the book, Brady told Welker his contract demand was two years, $50 million and said that if the 49ers wanted him, “there would be no free-agency tour, no bidding war, full stop; he would end his career where his love of football began, in scarlet and gold, allowing his parents to drive to (his) games for the first time since the 1990s,” according to the book.

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Meanwhile, the 49ers coaching staff led by Kyle Shanahan evaluated Brady, watched all of his pass attempts from the 2019 season and provided their evaluations, Wickersham reports.

Ultimately, the 49ers coaches concluded that Brady was only marginally better than Garoppolo at that stage of both of their careers.

The 49ers passed on Tom Brady, he ended up signing with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and they went on to win a Super Bowl. Meanwhile, the 49ers moved up in the 2021 NFL Draft to select North Dakota State quarterback Trey Lance, who will succeed Jimmy G as the team’s starting quarterback.