Kyle Shanahan admits he wanted Tom Brady as 49ers starting quarterback in 2023: ‘I was serious about it’

If Tom Brady had decided to play in the NFL for one more season, there’s a chance that he’d be going for his eighth Super Bowl ring this week and that chance would have come as the starting quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers. 

As it turns out, Kyle Shanahan wanted to give the QB job to Tom Brady for 2023, which is something the 49ers coach openly admitted during a recent interview with NBC Sports. 

“Yes, I was serious about it,” Shanahan said of trying to get Brady as his QB. 

Shanahan also confirmed that he had a conversation with Purdy about Brady possibly being the starter in 2023.

“As we talked, I’m looking at Brock, and he’s got his arm in a sling, and I really am not sure I’ve got a quarterback who’s going to be ready for the start of the 2023 season,” Shanahan said. “That started all of this.”

After Purdy suffered a serious elbow injury during the NFC title game in January 2023, the 49ers went into the offseason with a big question mark at quarterback. The team didn’t know if Purdy would be ready to play by the time the 2023 started, so Shanahan decided to come up with a contingency plan, and that plan was to go after Brady. 

“I mean, if Brock never got hurt, this wouldn’t have been a consideration at all,” Shanahan said. “I’d never have brought it up. But I’ve got to think about the team. What if he’s not ready in September?”

With Purdy’s status up in the air, Shanahan’s plan was to offer Brady the starting job for 2023. 

“I actually thought it was giving Brock the biggest compliment,” Shanahan said. “I let him know he’s our guy long-term. No question. And if Tom Brady wanted to come here and start for one year, that’s the only way you’re not starting when you’re healthy this year. That’s pretty cool. I wanted to assure him, ‘Don’t worry. You’re our guy. But how cool would it be if Tom Brady would be the quarterback here for one season? How cool would it be for you to learn from him?'”

Purdy and 49ers general manager John Lynch have both been asked about the Brady situation over the past three weeks, but neither guy gave any indication of whether there was any contact made between the 49ers and Brady. According to NBC Sports, Brady got the offer and he said no, so there was definitely some contact made between the two sides. 

Brady was actually asked about the 49ers’ offer last week, but he ducked the question. 

“In this last season, there’s a lot of different things that people would suggest, but I kind of just kept my mind focused on where I wanted to go,” Brady said, via 49ersWebZone.com. “Again, this was a great year for me to sit back and watch and learn and get prepared for being in the Fox booth next year.”

The seven-time Super Bowl winner announced his retirement on Feb. 1, 2023. 

Brady actually wanted to play for the 49ers in 2020, but Shanahan and his coaching staff decided to stick with Jimmy Garoppolo and it would be interesting to know whether that rejection factored into Brady’s decision this time around. 

Although the 49ers didn’t end up with Brady as their starting QB, they’re likely more than fine with that since Purdy just led them to the Super Bowl.