Bears owner validates ‘stealth’ Tom Brady pursuit in 2020: ‘It didn’t work out for us’

Tom Brady composed the last chapter of his 23-year NFL profession when he left the New England Patriots for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in2020 It eventually worked out for Brady, who won his record seventh Super Bowl in his veryfirst season in Tampa Bay.

Brady was not idea to have lotsof complimentary firm suitors at the time, however while on the broadcast of the Buccaneers’ Week 4 win over the Philadelphia Eagles, the brand-new FOX Sports lead NFL expert exposed that the Chicago Bears likewise waged a “very stealth” recruitment of him throughout the future Hall of Famer’s totallyfree company almost 5 years earlier.

Sure sufficient, Bears chairman George McCaskey justrecently verified that the Bears did have interest in Brady in 2020.

“Well, that appears like ancient history at this point. I do keepinmind we were interested in pursuing him. It didn’t work out for us,” McCaskey stated, according to ESPN. “Worked out excellent for him in Tampa. … anytime you’re in a circumstance like that you’re not putting all of your eggs in one basket. You’re looking at options. It’s the verysame in totallyfree company, it’s the exactsame in the draft. If the individual you’re targeting isn’t readilyavailable, you desire to make sure that you’ve done your due diligence on all other choices. 

“So that was one alternative that we were looking at.”

[Related: Tom Brady on the Bears?! Would it have resulted in a Super Bowl for Chicago?]

Brady doesn’t remorse his option to indication in Tampa Bay rather of Chicago, particularly after the previouslymentioned Super Bowl win and 3 consecuitive playoff looks before he retired for excellent after the 2022 season.

As for the Bears, they stuck with 2017 first-round draft choice Mitchell Trubisky at quarterback in 2020 however included veteran Nick Foles to the quarterback space, with the 2 each making a significant number of begins. Following the 2020 season, Chicago signed veteran Andy Dalton and traded up to choose quarterback Justin Fields in the 2021 NFL Draft. Fields was the Bears’ main starter through 2023 before being traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers last offseason to clear the method for Caleb Williams, the No. 1 general choice in the 2024 NFL Draft.

At present, the Bears are 3-2 with Williams under center, keeping speed in a competitive NFC North. The Buccaneers, ontheotherhand, have stayed a playoff-caliber group after Brady’s departure, winning a 3rd successive NFC South title last season with Baker Mayfield as their beginning quarterback.

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