When Tom Brady left the New England Patriots in 2020, there were unsurprisingly multiple teams interested in having the then six-time Super Bowl champion lead their offense. Brady ended up with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, winning a Super Bowl for them, leaving the other teams that pursued him wondering what could've been.
While on the call for a Week 4 matchup between the Buccaneers and Philadelphia Eagles, Brady gave some insight on who else was interested in signing him, noting the Chicago Bears were "very stealth in their recruitment."
Bears chairman George McCaskey confirmed that his team was interested in bringing Brady in.
"Well, that seems like ancient history at this point," McCaskey said, noting that he was not involved in the recruitment. "I do remember we were interested in pursuing him. It didn't work out for us. Worked out great for him in Tampa."
The Bears 2019 season ended with them in third in the NFC North at 8-8, missing the playoffs just one year after they were division champs.
"Anytime you're in a situation like that you're not putting all of your eggs in one basket," McCaskey said. "You're looking at alternatives. It's the same in free agency, it's the same in the draft. If the person you're targeting isn't available, you want to make sure that you've done your due diligence on all other options. So that was one option that we were looking at."
Instead of Brady, the Bears ended up with Nick Foles through a trade with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The Bears have waited a long time for a franchise quarterback and are hoping they found it in No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams, who has already shown progress through five weeks of his rookie season. Chicago currently sits at 3-2 and have the Jags coming up at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium at 9:30 a.m. ET.
