Tom Brady called a Tampa Bay Buccaneers game for the first time in his announcing career and dropped an absolute bomb while in the booth. Brady revealed during the game (in which the Bucs won 33-16) that he was "seriously considering" signing with the Bears before he ultimately chose the Buccaneers.
Brady brought his notes from when he entered free agency for the first time in his lengty career in 2020 and said that Chicago had done a nice job in recruiting. He did choose to sign with the Bucs and that ended up working out well for everyone (well, except the other teams who Brady didn't choose).
Tom Brady just revealed that he was “seriously considering” signing with the #Bears before choosing the Buccaneers, on the FOX broadcast! 👀🤯 pic.twitter.com/mVEsupYCqe
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) September 29, 2024
Tom Brady considered choosing Bears over Bucs in free agency in 2020
Rewinding back to 2020, the Bears still had Mitch Trubisky as their quarterback, who they had taken in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft. Trubisky was entering the fourth year of his rookie deal and it was clear by that point that he wasn't going to be the right guy for them moving forward. Brady would have been a huge boost to that Bears team but fortunately, he chose to sign with Tampa.
The Bucs had not been to the playoffs for 13 years before Brady came to town and he not only made them playoff contenders but Super Bowl contenders as well. They won their second-ever Super Bowl title in Brady's first year and made the playoffs in his other two years in Tampa.
Brady retired following the 2022 season and joined FOX as a broadcaster for the 2024 season and that's what led us to talking about this right now. It was cool of him to bring his notes from his 2020 free agency and kind of let us in on what criteria he was considering when picking his next team.
Fortunately, Brady wasn't fooled by the charm the Bears put on and picked correctly.