Although Tom Brady has been around the NFL for over 20 seasons, the 45-year-old rarely has played against the 49ers in the Bay Area.
When San Francisco matches up with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday at Levi’s Stadium, it will be only the second time the San Mateo native plays in his hometown.
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However, that could have changed in 2020 when Brady left the New England Patriots as the veteran quarterback reportedly wanted to play for the 49ers, which Seth Wickersham wrote in his 2021 book It’s Better to Be Feared: The New England Patriots Dynasty and the Pursuit of Greatness.
Despite Brady having the Bay Area as his No. 1 option back then, 49ers radio play-by-play announcer Greg Papa believes the idea of the veteran quarterback returning to his hometown next season is “fascinating,” considering the signal-caller is a free agent at the end of the season and San Francisco has question marks at the position.
“I mean, the one call in the offseason would be assuming Trey [Lance] is on the roster, Brock [Purdy] is on the roster, it’d be Tom Brady or Jimmy [Garoppolo],” Papa told NBC Sports Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco on the latest episode of “49ers Talk” this week. “And the question is, how does Jimmy heal? Would Brady do this? Would he come home? Does he want to play more?
“Isn’t it fascinating, though? Any other guy, you’d say, no, [but] this is the GOAT. This is Tom Brady. Now, the one thing that I wonder about and they would tailor the offense and they run a lot of shotgun now, but at his age. Could he make that stretch handoff and get out wide? His feet are they were great last year. A little slower this year.”
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With Brady still playing at a high level in his mid-40s, the Buccaneers quarterback might return for another season. It begs the question of whether the 49ers, who are ready to win right now, want to go with a veteran under-center or stick with Lance, who has yet to play an entire season in the NFL.
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Garoppolo will also be an unrestricted free agent, so a pursuit of Brady likely comes down to how the 49ers feel about Lance, who suffered a season-ending broken ankle injury in Week 2.