Tom Brady considered joining the Bears after they were “stealth” in their pursuit of him prior to the 2020 season, the former all-world quarterback said Sunday.
Now working for Fox, Brady on Sunday returned to Tampa, where he played from 2020-22 after leaving the Patriots following 20 seasons.
“Chicago was a team, and I never told that story before — they were very stealth in their recruitment,” Brady said during the broadcast. “I was seriously considering them. But at the end it came down to Tampa.”
Brady showed a list of cards he used to weigh 18 virtues of any free-agent destination, from weather to salary to the quality of facilities.
“There were a lot of reasons to choose Tampa,” he said.
Frustrated with Mitch Trubisky, then-general manager Ryan Pace decided to trade for former Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles in March 2020. He went 2-5 in seven starts and won his only start in 2021. Unable to find a taker for Foles, new GM Ryan Poles traded him after the 2022 draft.