San Francisco 49ers General Manager John Lynch Says Team Considered Signing Tom Brady

Before Tom Brady signed his contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, there were rumors of him joining the San Francisco 49ers — a team Brady has loved as a kid since he grew up in the area. But while the rumor never gained any real traction, that doesn't mean the 49ers weren't taking a look at the six-time Super Bowl champion. General manager of the 49ers, John Lynch was on The Rich Eisen Show Tuesday morning and talked about the team being interested in Brady. Lynch said they weren't actively pursuing him, but they did have a few discussions about adding him to the roster.

"When you're talking about one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time with Tom Brady, of course you're going to have some internal discussion," Lynch told Eisen, per ESPN. "And then you hear rumors that hey, he'd like to come home, that kind of thing. "So of course Kyle and I have discussions. We're always into getting better, so you always look at everything, especially a situation like that. But within a day or two, Kyle and I looked at each other and said, 'You know what, we really like what we have in Jimmy.' We love everything that he brings and we really believe it's a long-term answer. I would tell you we're more convinced than ever about who our quarterback is in Jimmy Garoppolo."

Some would say Brady would be an upgrade based on what he's done in his career. However, Garoppolo was able to put together a strong 2019 season for himself, which led to him leading the 49ers to a Super Bowl appearance in February. Garoppolo, who was Brady's backup when they were both members of the Patriots from 2014-2017, finished the 2019 season with 3,978 yards 25 touchdowns and 13 interceptions with a 102 passer rating. He has started 26 games in his career, which has led to a 21-5 record.

As for Brady, he's ready to lead the Bucs to their first Super Bowl win since 2002. When he spoke to reporters last month, Brady revealed why he signed with the Buccaneers. "There were a lot of things that really were intriguing to me about the organization – the players, and the coaches, and the willingness of everyone to try to accomplish the goal of what playing football is, which is to win," Brady said. "I'm going to try to do everything I can in my position and what I'm responsible for to make that happen."