It took a while, but it finally happened.
Someone from the 49ers has been asked about the claim from quarterback Brock Purdy that coach Kyle Shanahan told Purdy that the 49ers planned to pursue Tom Brady for 2023.
G.M. John Lynch, appearing on The Eye Test for Two podcast with Clark Judge and Ira Kaufman, addressed Purdy’s on-the-record comments which weren’t noticed for a week, and which have not resulted in either Shanahan or Purdy being asked about them, 17 days later.
“Now, Kyle and [Purdy] have a lot of conversations, and you have to understand, I think, the context,” Lynch said, via 49ersWebZone.com. “And I don’t know exactly when that conversation [took place]. Kyle and I haven’t talked about it, but the context of that was Brock got hurt in the NFC Championship game, as everyone knows, [against] Philly, and his elbow was really not in a good spot. And I think, to look back now, unbelievably, almost a miraculous recovery. He beat the timeline and all that.”
Still, Shanahan told Purdy that Brady, if they got him, would be the starter even if Purdy was healthy.
“When it first happened, we’re really searching, like, ‘What are we going to do at quarterback? We don’t know if we’re going to have Brock back,’” Lynch said. “Trey [Lance] had been hurt as well. He kind of [sustained] a vicious ankle injury, and that didn’t look really good. So we had to look at all our options.
“And I think Kyle and Brock really have honest conversations. At some point, he said, ‘Look, I guess the one way you’re not a starter if you’re healthy is if we go get someone like Brady.’ And I presume that’s what happened, but anytime you mention something like that, it’s obviously going to make quite a story.”
Lynch makes it sound hypothetical. Purdy made it sound like the plan was to try to sign Brady: “If we can get Tom Brady, we’re going to try to get Tom Brady.”
When Brady was asked about it this week, he didn’t answer the question. Hopefully, both Purdy and Shanahan will be asked about it next week, during one of umpteen pre-Super Bowl media availabilities.
it’s a story that somehow was hidden from view for months, and it also could frame the team’s approach to Purdy’s future, if he has a bad game in the Super Bowl, and if the 49ers decide to try to get Kirk Cousins.
