Is Tom Brady talking about Jimmy Garoppolo in free agency clip?

Hindsight is always 20/20, but even without the benefit of hindsight, a number of NFL teams made a grave mistake by not pursuing free agent quarterback Tom Brady a little bit more last offseason. Or maybe they should have pursued him a lot more.

Tom Brady was a free agent in the 2020 offseason at the ripe age of 42. Going into his age 43 season, Brady didn’t exactly look like vintage Tom Brady in the 2019 postseason, but clearly was still good enough to help a team substantially.

All of free agency during the pandemic in 2020 was odd, but Tom Brady signing with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was certainly the top storyline of the entire offseason. Why wasn’t his free agency pursuit more notable, then?

So much has gone on in the last 15 months that it’s difficult to remember exactly how it all went down. Perhaps it’s that Brady didn’t exactly open himself up to being recruited by all 31 other NFL teams after the New England Patriots let him go. Maybe it’s because teams actually thought that Brady would just re-sign with the Patriots somehow, some way.

Besides the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, what teams were actually in on Brady?

There were some rumblings that the San Francisco 49ers could be in play as they were Brady’s favorite team as a kid growing up in California. The Raiders were also a local team back at that time and having just relocated to Las Vegas, they were also an attractive option for Brady.

Even operating under the assumption that the Raiders, 49ers, and Buccaneers were Brady’s top three destinations, it’s interesting to wonder who he might be talking about in this quote that has the football world buzzing.

First of all, it’s amazing that some team would have bowed out at the end of pursuing Brady.

Second, it hurts even more knowing what we know now, that he was the ultimate differentiator for a Super Bowl-caliber roster.

Third, who is the “motherf—–” that Brady is talking about here?

If your team was interested in Brady even remotely last offseason, you might automatically assume it was your incumbent quarterback. Denver Broncos fans may think about Drew Lock. Raiders fans will look at Derek Carr. Chicago Bears fans might think about the final year of the Mitch Trubisky era.

Teams that drafted quarterbacks may even be second-guessing if they made the right decision to not pursue Brady heavily.

One team stands out among the rest, however, and it’s the San Francisco 49ers. After losing to the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl, it was abundantly clear that Jimmy Garoppolo was a limiting factor for the 49ers offensively. Even as close as San Francisco got in the 2019 season to winning it all, no one would have blamed John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan even a little bit for dumping Garoppolo and signing Tom Brady.

Again, Brady has proven to be a great differentiator.

Caught up in the heat of the moment (or something like that), the 49ers opted not to pursue Brady to the degree they should have, and the rest is history.

Based on how serious the 49ers were about potentially signing Brady or at least how serious Brady was about wanting to play for the 49ers, the “motherf—–” he’s talking about almost has to be Jimmy Garoppolo, doesn’t it?