Did 49ers consider replacing Brock Purdy with Tom Brady?

Nick Wagoner of ESPN dropped an interesting line in an article published on Tuesday about the San Francisco 49ers going with 2022 rookie Brock Purdy as their full-time starting quarterback this past offseason. 

"Short of Tom Brady deciding he wanted to extend his career in San Francisco, Purdy was always going to be the Niners' starter this season so long as he was fully recovered from the torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow he suffered in the NFC Championship Game loss to the Philadelphia Eagles," Wagoner wrote.

Brady seemingly wanted it known he was "done-done" following his second retirement from playing this past February, but multiple NFL insiders nevertheless quickly linked the seven-time Super Bowl champion with the 49ers ahead of March for understandable reasons. Brady grew up a San Francisco fan in San Mateo, where his parents still live, and a 49ers team that was a win away from playing in Super Bowl LVII didn't know early into the offseason how Purdy would recover from surgery. 

While rumors spread throughout the spring regarding Brady possibly signing with a team as a free agent, it's worth noting the future Hall of Famer who turned 46 years old in August indicated ahead of last Christmas he wasn't fully healthy throughout his final campaign with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Brady dealt with right finger and right shoulder injuries during the fall, and he also had off-the-field issues related to his divorce from Gisele Bündchen hovering over him going all the way back to August 2022. 

According to ESPN stats, Brady ended the 2022 regular season ranked 18th in the NFL among qualified players with a 54.6 adjusted QBR. He tossed 25 touchdown passes and nine interceptions across 17 games. 

To compare, Purdy ended Week 10 of the ongoing campaign ranked first in the league among qualified signal-callers with a 76.4 adjusted QBR, a 109.9 passer rating and an average of 9.3 yards per pass attempt. He has 15 touchdown passes and five picks for the 6-3 Niners. 

Brady seems happy in retirement as he works to become both a limited partner of the Las Vegas Raiders and Fox's lead NFL analyst next year. He's also spending time advising rookies such as C.J. Stroud of the Houston Texans, but it's still somewhat fun to imagine what Brady would and could have been as San Francisco's QB1 this fall.