Ranking 3 teams rumored to be interested in Tom Brady by best fit

Tom Brady, 49ers (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
Tom Brady, 49ers (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /
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Tom Brady, 49ers
Tom Brady, 49ers (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /

Second-best fit for Tom Brady: San Francisco 49ers

The San Francisco 49ers are, in the scope of just one season, a fantastic fit for Tom Brady. Beyond football, consider Santa Clara to be essentially Tampa West: Pretty good weather year-round and great for a halfway-retired, 45-year-old QB.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan can make it work with seemingly any quarterback in his system. There are weapons galore here, including one really important weapon in George Kittle. Brady has always been most comfortable when he has a steady tight end by his side to throw to (i.e. Rob Gronkowski), and Kittle has been good for 4-to-6 receptions per game for the last four years or so.

After Kittle, there’s Deebo Samuel, Brandin Aiyuk, and then Christian McCaffrey in the backfield. If Brady is serious about one more go at a Super Bowl, the Niners might be his best single-year shot.

The question is what this would do for whichever young quarterback the Niners want to move forward with, be that Trey Lance or Brock Purdy. On the one hand, learning under Brady would be a great experience for either QB. On the other hand, the Niners were ready to go with Lance, and Purdy has demonstrated he’s ready to rock in this league. Why wait?

Does bringing Brady in stunt the Niners’ ability to build a long-term winner and commit to their next long-term QB? Probably. That’s the biggest thing holding the fit back here.