John Lynch shares what he said to Tom Brady in text message

Feb 25, 2020; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch speaks during the NFL Scouting Combine at the Indiana Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Tom Brady grew up in the Bay Area rooting for the San Francisco 49ers, and some people believe the star quarterback wanted to play for his hometown team before officially calling it a career. Is John Lynch still trying to make that happen?

Lynch spoke with reporters at the NFL Scouting Combine on Tuesday about the Niners’ quarterback situation. The general manager confirmed that Jimmy Garoppolo will not be back and said the team will look into bringing in another veteran after both Trey Lance and Brock Purdy suffered significant injuries last season.

Of course, Lynch was asked if Brady is one veteran option the 49ers have considered. He did not explicitly deny it.

“I sent him a text when he retired,” Lynch said. “He was a teammate for about three weeks at one point. I sent him a text just (saying) congratulations on one of the greatest careers that I’ve ever seen in any sport. I wished him the best, so we’ll leave it at that.”

You can hear the comments below at around the 40-second mark:

The Niners showed last season that they do not need Brady. They got to the NFC Championship Game with a rookie under center, and they may have gone even further had Purdy not injured his elbow in that contest. Signing Brady now would make little sense, even if the seven-time Super Bowl champion was open to coming out of retirement yet again.

We learned recently that the rumors linking Brady to the 49ers are not going away. If Purdy takes longer than expected to recover from his elbow surgery, those rumblings will probably get louder.