Brady 'seriously' considered signing with Bears before joining Bucs

Tom Brady offered NFL fans an interesting "what if" while calling Sunday's game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Philadelphia Eagles.

Brady - currently the lead NFL color commentator for Fox - revealed that he almost joined the Chicago Bears as a free agent in 2020 instead of signing with the Bucs.

"There was a lot of reasons to choose Tampa, and I made 18 criteria why," Brady explained. "And there were things all the way from the salary, obviously, to the weather, to the facilities, to how great the players were.

"Ultimately, Chicago was a team - and I've never told that story before - they were very stealth in their recruitment, I was seriously considering them. But in the end, it came down to Tampa, and it was close to my son Jack, and I love (former head coach) Bruce Arians."

Brady built a legendary NFL resume, playing for six Super Bowl titles during a 20-season stint with the New England Patriots. The three-time NFL MVP then became a free agent and signed a two-year, $50-million contract with the Buccaneers.

With Brady in town, Tampa Bay went from being a 7-9 team to winning the Super Bowl in the QB's first season with the team. Brady played three campaigns with the Bucs before officially retiring.

Meanwhile, the Bears have struggled to find consistency under center. Chicago - the only NFL franchise never to have a QB throw for 4,000 yards or 30 TDs in a season - has had eight different starting signal-callers since 2020, including 2024 first overall pick Caleb Williams, the team's current No. 1 option.

Brady averaged 4,881 passing yards and 36 touchdowns per season with Tampa Bay.