Tom Brady Rumors: 4 of 8 Interested Teams Would Sign Him to Contract 'Right Now'

At least eight NFL teams are "monitoring" legendary New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady as he prepares to become an unrestricted free agent March 18.

"I have spoken to executives with eight different teams that are at the very least monitoring Tom Brady's free agency," ESPN's Jeff Darlington reported Wednesday on Get Up (via Darren Hartwell of NBC Sports Boston). "They are going down this list having internal discussions right now saying, 'Is this the right fit for our organization?'"

Darlington added: "Four of those teams, I believe, would sign him right now."

Here's a look at further comments about Brady from the Get Up segment:

The tea leaves continue to point toward a departure from New England for the six-time Super Bowl champion after a remarkably successful 20-year partnership with Patriots head coach Bill Belichick.

Brady attended Saturday's college basketball game between Syracuse and North Carolina with longtime Pats teammate Julian Edelman. When a camera was filming the pair, Brady appeared to whisper "he's not" while shaking his head after Edelman's repeated assertions that the quarterback was "coming back":

Although several teams are looking for an upgrade at the sport's most important position this offseason, a team seemingly set at QB has jumped to the forefront of the Brady conversation in recent days: the San Francisco 49ers.

The Niners reached the Super Bowl with Jimmy Garoppolo leading the offense last season, but it sounds like that won't prevent them from taking a run at the three-time NFL MVP.

On Tuesday, Tom E. Curran of NBC Sports Boston told Mad Dog Sports' Adam Schein that San Francisco was "closing hard" in a race currently led by the Pats and Tennessee Titans:

If the Niners do sign Brady, it would allow them to get out from under Garoppolo's five-year, $137.5 million contract with only $4.2 million in dead cap space via release or trade, per Spotrac.

It would also create a scenario in which Jimmy G could return to the Patriots, who traded him to the 49ers in October 2017, to replace his former mentor.

San Francisco faces plenty of competition for Brady, though. Darlington noted there are at least seven other teams involved. That number could increase once this year's quarterback carousel, which is shaping up as one of the wildest in recent memory, starts to spin when free agency kicks off with the opening of the league's legal tampering period March 16.

Brady is the biggest chip of all. Once he makes a decision, the rest of the free-agent QBs—led by Philip Rivers, Teddy Bridgewater, Ryan Tannehill and Jameis Winston—should fall into place.