Before Tom Brady officially announced he was retiring from the NFL "for good" last week, there were whispers the quarterback could return to the Bay and play for his hometown 49ers in 2023.
Well, those rumors never came to pass -- and former NFL offensive lineman-turned-analyst Ross Tucker wasn't surprised.
"There was so much talk before Brady retired of maybe getting Brady [in San Francisco]," Tucker told NBC Sports Bay Area's Matt Maiocco and Jennifer Lee Chan on Tuesday, when he joined them at Super Bowl LVII Radio Row for the latest episode of "49ers Talk."
"That never made sense to me."
Tucker laid out several reasons why he never believed the Brady-to-49ers hype -- one of which being the future Pro Football Hall of Famer's 2022 season.
"First of all, because Brady didn't -- and I was teammates with him [on the New England Patriots] in '05 and '06 -- he didn't play very well last year," Tucker said.
Plus, Tucker doesn't believe Brady would have been a fit for 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan's offensive scheme. The team's two young quarterbacks, Trey Lance and Brock Purdy, are nimble in the pocket, while Brady isn't known for his mobility.
San Francisco 49ers
"Number two, [the 49ers] really like to run the bootleg stuff," Tucker continued. "Tom can't move. He hates bootleg stuff. So, that would totally ruin a whole part of Shanahan's offense that he loves."
As for Tucker's third reason? It comes down to economics: Purdy and Lance on rookie contracts are affordable options under center, while Brady most certainly wouldn't have been. As San Francisco looks ahead to contract extensions for players like Nick Bosa, most notably, and possibly Brandon Aiyuk, number crunching becomes all the more important.
"And then the biggest thing is it's a huge advantage for the 49ers to be able to have such inexpensive quarterbacks," Tucker said. "They need to take advantage of that the next couple of years. Brady's not doing it for less than $25 million. Brock probably makes two or three thousand.
"I personally think Purdy and Lance can give you what Brady would be able to give you, especially in that offense, for a lot less money and allow the Niners to allocate their resources elsewhere."
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As it stands, Lance and Purdy are the two quarterbacks in line for the starting position in 2023.
And while the Brady speculation was fun for a while, it's clear the 49ers believe that's exactly as it should be, along with Tucker.