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Source: Bears weren’t the team Tom Brady was referring to

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Mike Florio and Big Cat aren't buying the idea of Tom Brady never thinking about his legacy and being the best NFL player in history.

Colin Cowherd insists that Tom Brady was talking about the Bears when explaining that a team was interested in him late in the 2020 free-agency process before deciding against signing him and (as Brady put it) “sticking with that motherf--ker.” Per multiple sources with direct knowledge of the situation, it wasn’t the Bears.

That doesn’t answer who it was. The Colts and Chargers don’t fit, because they weren’t “sticking with” anyone in 2020. Both teams signed new quarterbacks in free agency, and the Chargers later drafted rookie of the year Justin Herbert. The Titans make no sense; quarterback Ryan Tannehill had just won the NFL’s comeback player of the year award, and he’d beaten Brady in his final game as a Patriot.

Besides, the Titans hardly settled for Tannehill. The four-year contract he signed before free agency even began ultimately had a better four-year cash flow and guarantee than the deals later signed by Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson. Put simply, if the Titans were thinking about upgrading to a 43-year-old Tom Brady, they wouldn’t then pivot to Tannehill with such a major financial commitment.

The trail of breadcrumbs keeps leading back to the 49ers and Jimmy Garoppolo. So what if both players are represented by the same agent? Brady basically represents himself, negotiating the number and telling Don Yee to draw up the paperwork. Brady’s not going to alter his opinions about other Yee clients.

Here’s hoping that Brady gets asked the question at some point in training camp, and that he answers it. And that the answer falls within the 10-percent window when he actually tells the truth.