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If Kyle Shanahan had his way, the San Francisco 49ers' quarterback situation would've looked a lot different in 2022. Apparently, he would have loved to have Tom Brady in the fray.
Former NFL executive Mike Lombardi hopped on the Pat McAfee Show this week to talk shop. On the show, Lombardi made an interesting revelation regarding the 49ers' plans back in 2020 when Brady was still pondering his options.
Here's what he said:
“A year earlier, Kyle wanted to sign Tom Brady, and the resistance factor within the building said, ‘No, no, no. We’re not doing that.'"
He continued:
“So Kyle gets back, and he wants Mac Jones, and all of a sudden the Twitter momentum, ‘You can’t take Mac Jones there. He’s not good enough. You can’t hire Al Pacino as Michael Corleone. You can’t do this, you can’t do that.’ He gets worn down.”
In summary, Kyle Shanahan wanted Tom Brady in the building. When that was torpedoed, he wanted to draft Mac Jones the 2021 NFL Draft. In the buildup to the draft, all the signals pointed to Shanahan selecting Mac Jones third overall. However, things took a turn in the draft.
To everyone's surprise, the 49ers ended selected Trey Lance, leaving incumbent quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo in somewhat of a bind. In his first full season as a starter, Garoppolo led the team to a 13-3 record and quarterbacked the 49ers to the Super Bowl. They ultimately fell to the might of the Patrick Mahomes-led Kansas City Chiefs at Super Bowl LIV in February 2020.
Tom Brady, of course, signed for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They swiftly assembled a win-now crew around the iconic quarterback. Brady's Buccaneers romped to the Super Bowl and in February 2021, they defeated the Chiefs.
In doing so, Tom Brady became the oldest quarterback in Super Bowl history to start, play, win, and be crowned Super Bowl MVP. Just regular Tom Brady stuff really, no big deal.
There's no Tom Brady, but there's an intriguing QB situation in San Francisco
It appears that Kyle Shanahan and San Francisco really enjoy taking a hard right turn just when you think they're going left. All offseason, Jimmy Garoppolo was said to have been on the trade block for potential suitors. The Cleveland Browns were heavily rumored to be interested in Garoppolo due to Deshaun Watson's impending suspension.
While that trade didn't manifest itself, the 49ers instead turned around and reworked Garoppolo's contract to keep him around as the backup quarterback. This makes for interesting reading as San Francisco were meant to be all-in on Trey Lance.
Last season, there were doubts that Lance was ready to lead the 49ers, hence why Garoppolo played most of the season. It feels as though San Francisco are keeping Garoppolo around in case Lance isn't able to take them forward.
It will be interesting to see if Lance can deliver in the upcoming season.
If you use any of the above quotes, please credit the Pat McAfee Show and H/T Sportskeeda.
