The Chicago Bears 2020 season ended in disappointment. They went 8-8 and made the playoffs. As was always the case, poor quarterback play told the story. As it turns out, things were almost way different. Everybody remembers the Tom Brady story. He became a free agent that year and eventually signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. From there, he guided the organization to their second Super Bowl title and his seventh. It was a fitting final stamp on his status as the greatest of all time.
What many might not know is that the story was almost completely different. During his broadcast of the Buccaneers-Eagles game on Sunday, Brady admitted a shocking truth. Before going to Tampa, he came really close to choosing the Bears as his ultimate destination. They'd been heavily recruiting him in secret.
Tom Brady coming to Chicago would've changed many things.
It almost certainly would've saved the jobs of Matt Nagy and Ryan Pace. The Bears would've made the postseason and probably won at least a playoff game. Remember, they had the 11th-ranked defense in the league, David Montgomery at running back, who had over 1,000 yards, and the pairing of Allen Robinson and Darnell Mooney at wide receiver. Both combined for over 1900 receiving yards. While not quite at Tampa's level in terms of skill position strength, it was a good group.
Two years of peak Tom Brady would've allowed the Bears to also focus their 2021 draft resources on retooling the rooster rather than chasing another quarterback as they did with Justin Fields. Maybe they could've avoided the rebuild that followed. It is amazing to think how different things might've been. Sadly, you can't fault Brady's choice. It worked out for him.
