Chargers missing on Tom Brady is crushing for them
By John Buhler
With the Los Angeles Chargers missing out in the Tom Brady sweepstakes is more crushing than you think.
The Los Angeles Chargers have come up just short of winning the Tom Brady sweepstakes.
Brady’s potential suitors were gradually dwindled down during the legal tampering period of free agency. Teams that could have landed him like the Indianapolis Colts, the Las Vegas Raiders and the Tennessee Titans all opted to pursue other free-agent quarterbacks.
Brady sent out a message to the New England Patriots fanbase citing he is moving on from the franchise on Tuesday.
So that left us with two potential suitors for Brady: the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Chargers.
There was an appeal to both spots for Brady, but staying in the Eastern Time Zone as opposed to moving out to the West Coast played a bigger role in his free agency than we all realized.
Per Jim Trotter’s report, the Chargers have bowed out of the Brady sweepstakes, seemingly leaving the Buccaneers as the default winner here. Though Tampa won, Los Angeles are huge losers in this.
By not landing Brady, the Chargers remain without an identity entering their third year in the Los Angeles media market. They will play second fiddle to the Los Angeles Rams in brand-new SoFi Stadium, a venue the Spanos Family desperately needs to fill with Chargers’ season-ticket holders. Brady playing in the twilight of his illustrious career would have certainly packed the house.
And it’s not just exiting the Brady sweepstakes that is so devastating. The Chargers don’t have a high-end starting quarterback for next season. Their long-time starter Philip Rivers left Los Angeles to sign a one-year deal with the Indianapolis Colts to be reunited with Frank Reich. The Chargers could trade for someone, draft a quarterback or settle for someone like Jameis Winston.
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After not having an NFL team in Los Angeles for two decades, the Chargers had a great opportunity to grab some much-needed market share by signing a player like Brady. It’s hard to be relevant in a city full of stars and a metropolitan area with two of every kind of professional sports team you could imagine. Look for the Chargers to go quarterback No. 6 in the 2020 NFL Draft then.
We know the Chargers put up a valiant effort to land Brady, but this has to be beyond brutal.