Tom Brady for the San Francisco 49ers? Unlikely, but not impossible

English

If Brock Purdy really needs elbow surgery and the San Francisco 49ers continue their revolving door of injured quarterbacks, can the team turn to 45-year-old local boy Tom Brady for one last cheer?

Several analysts connect the dots. An anonymous NFL executive spoke to The Athletic’s Mike Sando and predicted that the 49ers would sign Brady and trade Trey Lance to the Tennessee Titans, while Keyshawn Johnson drums the Brady 49ers on several ESPN shows.

On the one hand, it would be reasonable. If Brady claims eighth place in the championship, the best place to do so would be a roster full of talent in every possible position. It’s rare for a team with quarterback uncertainty and no draft until the end of the third round to have such promising prospects, but that’s where the 49ers stand.

As good as it would be for Brady, and as poetic as it would be for him to end his career about 25 miles from where he grew up in San Mateo, would that be practical for the team? He limped into the 2022 season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, posting a career-worst 52.5 QBR. When his Bucks visited Levice Stadium in Week 14, he was intercepted twice as San Francisco took a 35–7 victory. He has a habit of playing his best whenever the game seems to have passed him by, but the clock can be ticking.

Then there is the question of succession. If Brady doesn’t have access to the Fountain of Youth, he’s physically only a couple of years away. George Blanda, the oldest player in NFL history, threw his last pass at 48, and at that point he was mostly a kicker. Blanda was not a regular starting QB after a 39-year season, and his last start as a starter came at 41. A fairer comparison would be to Vinny Testaverde, who started seven games for the 2007 Carolina Panthers, including three after his 44th. birthday.

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (13) of the San Francisco 49ers speaks with Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady (12) after their National Football League game at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California on December 11, 2022. | Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images

Even if Purdy plays no role at all in the 2023 season, there are still other domestic options to deal with. Lance is expected to recover from his ankle injuries by the season, and while other options seem to have swept past him on the depth chart, the Niners still put a lot of resources into the ND State product. He will be just 23 when the season starts and was third overall in 2021 — a pick that cost San Francisco two other first-round players.

The move from Lance would have left the 49ers with balls in their faces. His value can’t be beat after he made just four starts in two years and suffered a season-ending ankle injury in the last of those four starts. The team could ignore this and cut their losses by making a rare mistake in what would otherwise be a string of great moves. Tennessee would be a reasonable landing spot, as predicted by an anonymous executive, given that the Titans had just hired Ran Carton as general manager. Carton has spent the last six seasons with San Francisco, including the last two as the team’s personnel director.

As for Jimmy Garoppolo, he will become a free agent this offseason, and general manager John Lynch will have to deal with one less signaller. If he leaves as a free agent and not through a deal that fans have been waiting for for two years, will the Portuguese artist Rita Carvalho draw him every day?

Ultimately, the quarterback position won’t be secure for the 49ers for a while, unless Purdy recovers without surgery and maintains the form he showed at the end of the 2022 season. Brady is just one of the options, and a short-sighted one at that. But it’s fun to consider.

English

Content Source

Dallas Press News – Latest News:
Dallas Local News || Fort Worth Local News | Texas State News || Crime and Safety News || National news || Business News || Health News

texasstandard.news contributed to this report.

Related Articles

Back to top button