The body isn’t even cold, and the Tom Brady-49ers rumors have started
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Another Niners offseason, another unsettled winter at quarterback. It hasn’t even been 24 hours since the Eagles beat the brakes off the 49ers in Sunday’s NFC title game, but that’s enough time to get the rumor mill going.
The Athletic already has a story — citing anonymous executives and an agent — on the possibilities of the team’s quarterbacking journey. The headline item is a partnership with Tom Brady, who will become a 46-year-old divorcé ahead of next season. The first anonymous executive says “the chatter” is that Brock Purdy will be Brady’s backup, and Trey Lance will end up somewhere like Tennessee.
“They have the defense already, Brady wants to win one more, and this is right up the 49ers’ alley,” the unnamed individual said.
Mike Sando, who wrote the article, noted that “Trading Lance wouldn’t be necessary” and cited another anonymous executive who said, “I don’t think Lance has enough value right now to trade him.” The unnamed agent predicted a duel between Purdy and Lance that’s “Purdy’s to lose,” after letting Jimmy Garoppolo walk.
The Niners have been consistently linked to Brady ever since he left the Patriots, and The Athletic’s sources aren’t the only ones bringing him up. Jason La Canfora, an NFL insider for the Washington Post, also said he expects Brady to end up in Santa Clara this offseason. As a bonus, he reported that on Friday, before Purdy’s elbow was turned into crabmeat.
La Canfora addresses the elephant in the room: Brady’s declining abilities, which were on full display throughout this whole season, particularly at Levi’s Stadium. He compares a Brady-Niners union to Peyton Manning’s final season in Denver, where the rest of the team carried an aging and fragile QB to a title. That plan would fly in the face of the obvious logic of rocking with Brock. Purdy is younger, more athletic and as cheap as it gets; he’s already proved that he can operate Kyle Shanahan’s offense, provided his elbow injury isn’t too much of a concern.
It’s still January. If this is the type of shipping NFL insiders have now, imagine how things will get in the dog days of the offseason.