When Tom Brady decided to leave the Patriots after the 2019 season, every team that thought they were one quarterback away from being a contender was interested in his services. Ultimately, he signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, which proved to be a pretty good decision as he won another Super Bowl in that 2020 season.
However, the Bucs were not the only team that made a strong play for Brady’s services. The Miami Dolphins famously tried to get Brady, with the goal of pairing him with Sean Payton as coach, but instead lost draft picks and had their owner suspended for tampering violations that came to light after a lawsuit was filed by Brian Flores against the NFL and the Dolphins.
On Sunday, Brady made his first trip back to Tampa since his retirement in 2023 to call a Bucs blowout win of the Eagles, and brought with him the criteria he used to make his decision. As he explained, he had 18 criteria on his list for choosing his next team, from salary to weather to how good the team was. While Tampa won out, he said a team no one knew was really close to landing him was the Chicago Bears, which was certainly news to Bears fans.
Tom Brady on almost joining the Chicago Bears
Wow!pic.twitter.com/ToQgLKEXRn
— Oh No He Didn’t (@ohnohedidnt24) September 29, 2024
The Bears at the time had a dominant defense but were being quarterbacked by Mitchell Trubisky, so Brady would’ve been a pretty considerable upgrade at that spot. I’m not sure if this makes Bears fans feel better or worse that they were a runner-up in the Brady sweepstakes, but it was an interesting little “what if” tidbit from the GOAT.