Mike Lombardi joins the Brady for JimmyG train
in Tom Brady’s case, returning home to the Bay Area and finishing out his career in the uniform of his favorite childhood team, the 49ers, might actually make some real sense. Going home might be the best place for him. Now, before we get into this, I want to be clear: I’ve resisted from playing the ‘Where is Tom Going’ game, in part because we don’t have a clear understanding of the new CBA if the players do approve it and also because, honestly, I’m unwilling to wrap my head around the idea that Brady could play for a team other than the Patriots. I might get there at some point, but I am not there yet. But, for the sake of this column and because NFL fans across the world are asking where Brady might play next season, I will grudgingly admit that yes, the 49ers
do make sense.
That may sound surprising, considering the fact that the NFC champion 49ers already have a much younger former Patriots quarterback in Jimmy Garoppolo. Garoppolo, 28, is coming off a solid season, and while he took a ton of heat for not making a play in the fourth quarter of San Francisco’s Super Bowl LIV loss to the Chiefs, he should not shoulder all the blame for the 49ers’ collapse. To understand why the 49ers might have an interest in Mr. Brady, you need to first understand how Garoppolo became their full-time starter.
Kyle Shanahan took the job as head coach of the 49ers in 2017 and was given complete authority to rebuild the organization. (Make no mistake about this: Shanahan has in his contract complete and total authority to do whatever he wants, even though John Lynch has the general manager title). Shanahan originally wanted Kirk Cousins to become his starter even though he was playing in Washington. Shanahan signed journeyman quarterback Brian Hoyer to allow himself some time to repair the team before Cousins arrived. During Shanahan’s first draft with the 49ers in 2017, he passed on quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes, Deshaun Watson and Mitch Trubisky, admitting later that he never gave them a full evaluation. After trading the No. 2 pick to the Bears, he drafted defensive tackle Solomon Thomas from Stanford at No. 3, an excellent college player labeled a “can’t-miss” because of his effort and instincts, though he has proven to be more miss than hit. Shanahan did not pay attention to the quarterbacks available in the draft because he
knew he was going to sign Cousins. The 49ers’ reasoning had to be: why waste time on finding another quarterback when you know one is coming sooner rather than later?
Shanahan and Cousins have a close relationship fueled by how Shanahan hand-picked Cousins for his father Mike’s offense in Washington, even after the organization drafted Robert Griffin III. And even after Griffin played well, Cousins was the quarterback the Shanahans wanted. When the Redskins ran out of options to resign Cousins, it seemed inevitable that he would land in San Francisco … until Jimmy Garoppolo arrived.
Garoppolo was never part of Shanahan’s master plan. Even after making the trade with the Patriots in October of 2017, he thought he was still going to sign Cousins when he hit free agency in 2018. All Jimmy G provided at the time of the trade was an asset, a quality player who was in demand throughout the NFL. The 49ers believed after making the initial trade that they could convert Garoppolo into a higher pick than the second-rounder sent to the Patriots. This is one of the reasons they made the midseason deal — they had a chance to add more assets to their portfolio. After they completed the deal, the 49ers were not shy about admitting they could send Garoppolo to another team like the Browns for a future first. Then something occurred that even Shanahan could not ignore: Garoppolo played well, extremely well, far beyond what Shanahan had expected.
The 49ers were 1-10 when Garoppolo became the starter in December of 2017. By the end of the season, they were 6-10 and looked like a team with a bright future. Garappolo won over Shanahan, which was not easy, but after five games of playing at a high level, even Shanahan had to admit that Jimmy G. was the future, not Cousins. So in 2018 they negotiated a good contract for both parties, one that allows the 49ers the freedom to move on from Jimmy without paying a huge cap charge. (For example, if the 49ers trade Garoppolo this year, they only have $4.2 million of dead cap charge.)
And yet as the team improved around Garoppolo and as they played more games together, it never seemed that Shanahan had quite the love for Jimmy that he once had for Kirk. They appeared to grow further apart, not in conversations, but rather in mannerisms and interactions — which is natural the more time you spend around a player, particularly a player who was more of an arranged marriage then a true love affair. Even during their successful 2019 season, there was a sense at times that Shanahan was just trying to make sure Garoppolo didn’t lose the games instead of letting him go win them. And after the Super Bowl loss, you can only imagine this has gotten slightly more distant.
It’s not crazy to think that Shanahan could believe with the running game, defense and play design that his team has, Brady could be the player to push them over the edge and deliver them a Super Bowl victory. Despite his recent decline in play, Brady would not make blatant mistakes with the football, he would always get the 49ers into the perfect play, and he would not have to carry the team — he could be a supplement, a significant supplement. Yes, some might argue that Jimmy was the supplement as well, that the pressure was not entirely on Jimmy to carry the team either, which is true. But when the game is on the line, when the outcome rests solely on the quarterback’s overall talent, when the scheme cannot entirely compensate, then a quarterback must step up and lead the team forward. To some extent, Garoppolo can do that, and we’ve seen glimpses of it, but in a broader, more critical way, Brady embraces these moments when the burden shifts from the coach to the player. Even at his age, Brady can take the game over with his mind; he can get into the right play and does not need the right call all the time. This is not a knock on Garoppolo, but rather a tribute to Brady’s experience — and it’s something that could bring a title to the 49ers.
Brady would be ideal for the present, and trading Garoppolo would give the 49ers an asset for the future. They could trade Garoppolo back to the Patriots or any other team in need of young talent, then spend draft capital on another young quarterback. Shanahan has great faith in his ability to find non-mainstream quarterback talent. He believes his offense makes the quarterback better and that he does not need rare skills at the position. He would not look at signing Brady as merely a short-term fix, because he knows he could find another young talent at the position — perhaps even bring back his first love Kirk Cousins next season. If he signed Brady, Shanahan would continue to think about the future beyond him, but in the meantime, Brady would give Shanahan what all coaches love: experience. Experience in big games, experience in making the right play at the right time. That experience, most importantly, brings a sense of confidence to his team. Signing Brady puts the bullseye on Shanahan’s back, and it also sends comfort to his entire team that if they do their jobs, they have the leadership in place to win a Super Bowl. The locker room will be filled with excitement, with players saying, “We got the GOAT.”
I could imagine Shanahan telling people in the organization that either Nick Mullens or C.J. Beathard could do what Garoppolo does — maybe not as good, but close enough. But no one can do what Brady does, or could do. Shanahan is confident in his talent as a coach, he places a massive sense of responsibility on his shoulders to make the game easy for the quarterback—and because of the smoothness of his offense, finding the right player for the offense becomes elementary to him. Yes, he craves talent, yes he wants the best player, but Shanahan knows his skills as a coach makes any player better, so if he believes Mullens or Beathard could do as well as Garoppolo, he means only with him coaching them. You might say this arrogance or cockiness is not becoming for a young coach, but it might be the best trait any coach can possess. If Sean McVay of the Rams had a little more of this, then he might have let Jared Goff walk and find another option without hampering his cap. Because truthfully, he could. McVay, like Shanahan, possesses skills that can overcome talent at times and he should never be afraid to find an alternative.
He may not be playing at the levels he was just a couple of years ago, but Brady still gives Shanahan something he has never had as a coach: a player who can go beyond his playcalling, who has the experience to recover if a play goes wrong. That is the rare trait — and that’s why signing Brady might make sense for a team that’s ready to win right now.
From Brady’s standpoint, the 49ers do make sense on and off the field. It would be a homecoming; he could end his football career the way it began: in the Bay Area. Brady would be on a team with excellent veteran skill players, tremendous coaching and play design, one that is constructed to win a championship immediately.
Of all the teams in the mix for Brady, the 49ers make sense — not only because Brady’s mind and experience would give them an immediate improvement at the position, but because of Shanahan’s skills as a quarterback evaluator for the future.
Maybe going home isn’t so bad after all.
https://theathletic.com/1658416/202...-brady-to-the-niners-may-actually-make-sense/
Now I know that MLombardi is a spy for BB
