Tom Brady almost signed with the Bears last offseason.
Let me repeat that, the Bears knew they needed to do something about their quarterback situation and almost landed six-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady.
Tom freakin' Brady.
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At least, that's what sources told Dan Patrick.
"Did you know that the Bears were in the final list of teams for Tom Brady?," Patrick asked. "The final list that Brady was looking at, the Chargers, the Bears, and the Buccaneers. I was told this yesterday. I said, 'Wait a minute. The Bears?' [The source] told me yes."
He adds that the Chargers were the long shot because Brady didn't want to be on the West Coast, unless it was the San Francisco 49ers. That means the Bears were the runner-ups.
Brady wanted to be close to New York City, where his son from his relationship with Bridget Moynahan lives, and Chicago offered that. It's a quick flight from Chicago to New York City.
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But Brady didn't want to play in cold weather anymore.
What could've been.
You can hear Patrick talk about it around the 5:00 mark of the Hour 3 episode from Thursday. You'll have to get through some Packers and Aaron Rodgers talk to hear it.
We all know what happened. The Bears traded a compensatory fourth-round draft pick to the Jaguars for Nick Foles.
Foles would compete with Mitch Trubisky for the starting role and was perceived to have an edge because of his experience in Matt Nagy's offense but ultimately didn't win the job.
Brady went on to sign with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who have serious talent at wide receiver with Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. Then tight end Rob Gronkowski ended his retirement to join the Bucs and they added running back Leonard Fournette.
And they're Super Bowl contenders now.
Brady could've signed with the Bears.
Gronk could've come out of retirement to sign with the Bears, filling a tight end hole the Bears plugged with veteran Jimmy Graham and drafting Notre Dame's Cole Kmet.
Brady choosing the Bears could've plugged two holes for the Bears and the Bears would be Super Bowl contenders.
Why didn't he choose Chicago?
This one hurts. What could've been.