Tom Brady 'was seriously considering' joining team other than Buccaneers in 2020

Legendary quarterback Tom Brady famously guided the New England Patriots to six Super Bowl championships from 2000 through the 2019 season before he signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in March 2020. 

It appears Brady at least flirted with joining the Chicago Bears when he was a free agent over four years ago. 

"Ultimately, Chicago was a team — and I never told that story before — they were very stealth in their recruitment," Brady explained while calling Tampa Bay's 33-16 win over the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday for Fox, as shared by NFL reporter Ralph Vacchiano of Fox Sports. "I was seriously considering them. But in the end, it came down to Tampa. It was close to my son Jack. I love [then-Buccaneers head coach] Bruce Arians and the role he played in the offense. And ultimately, the great players like Mike Evans and Chris Godwin that I'm still out there watching today."

Without Brady, the 2020 Bears earned a playoff berth as quarterbacks Mitchell Trubisky and Nick Foles made starts for the club, but Chicago suffered a loss in the wild-card round of the postseason tournament. Meanwhile, Brady helped the Buccaneers notch a win over the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LV to close out his first season with Tampa Bay. 

Chicago made Trubisky the second overall pick of the 2017 NFL Draft, but he's now a backup with the Buffalo Bills. Foles announced his retirement this past summer. 

Brady had been linked by some with the San Francisco 49ers and Las Vegas Raiders before he signed with Tampa Bay. He acknowledged during Sunday's broadcast that the Bears "were really under the radar" regarding their interest in his services back in 2020. 

"I just felt like ultimately I made a great decision coming to Tampa," Brady added during his comments. "And what we accomplished as a team, and relationships with [general manager] Jason Licht and his whole staff and all the players … it meant so much to me. Three years later, [after] I left, I realize how important this place has been in my football journey."

Brady retired from playing "for good" in February 2023. 

The Bears are now hoping that Caleb Williams, the first pick of this year's draft, will eventually become their own version of Brady across the next two decades. With that said, some Chicago fans are likely wondering what could have been had Brady relocated to the "Windy City" in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.