ESPN senior writer Seth Wickersham joined Merloni & Fauria in studio Friday afternoon to discuss his Patriots book, "It's Better to be Feared," which will be released in a few weeks.
Tom Brady's free agency following the 2019 season came up and Wickersham said at the time Brady reached out to Wes Welker, a member of the 49ers coaching staff, to basically say he wanted to join the organization.
“I’ll be a 49er. No free agency tour. Full stop. I’ll be a Niner. My parents can drive to the game. I get to retire with my childhood team," Wickersham said Brady told Welker.
Wickersham said it felt like San Franscisco was his first choice, but after Kyle Shanahan and the 49ers coaching staff looked more into the situation and Jimmy Garoppolo, they concluded they were better off with Garoppolo.
“So, Kyle Shanahan is on vacation in Cabo and he orders the entire offensive coaching staff to go through all of Brady’s throws from 2019," Wickersham said. "They determined that Tom was better, but they didn’t think he was quite better enough to give up on Jimmy. He’s a locker room leader. He’s a team captain. And like I said, he had come close to winning a Super Bowl, so they decided to stick with Jimmy.”
Wickersham said he does not if Brady was referring to Garoppolo with his, "You're sticking with that mother f—er?" line from earlier this year.
