The 10 Craziest NFL Offseason Rumors That We Wish Came True
This article was originally published on Total Pro Sports.
With the NFL offseason upon us, it’s a good time to take a trip down memory lane and reflect on some of the great “what-ifs.”
There’s no changing the past, but we can’t help but wonder if some of these crazy old NFL trade and free agent rumors had come to fruition. The league would look a lot different today, that’s for sure.
With that, let’s dive into the 10 craziest NFL offseason rumors that we wish came true.
Which NFL offseason rumors had you wishing had happened?
Tom Brady Bolts To The Chargers
On March 17, 2020, Tom Brady announced on social media that he would not re-sign with the New England Patriots. It wasn’t a case of Bill Belichick kicking him out the door. Brady simply decided on his own that he needed to finish his career elsewhere. Even now, he doesn’t root for the Patriots.
Immediately, the Los Angeles Chargers emerged as a rumored landing spot for Brady. In October 2019, per NFL insider Jason La Canfora, he reported that the Bolts were a team to watch if Brady left the Patriots.
Ahead of 2020 free agency, Los Angeles announced it would not re-sign franchise great Philip Rivers, who later signed a one-year deal with the Indianapolis Colts. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported at the time that the Chargers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers submitted lucrative offers to Brady.
Of course, it wasn’t to be. Brady wound up signing with the Buccaneers. Obviously, he regrets nothing after leading them to a Super Bowl 55 championship.
But in hindsight, we wish the Brady-Chargers rumor had come true. For one, having the greatest player of all time play in the country’s sports hotbed would have been epic on its own.
Also, we would have had Brady vs. Patrick Mahomes’ Kansas City Chiefs twice a year. Those Bolts, always victims of unfortunate breaks, would have had “The GOAT” to help them emerge as contenders.
The Chargers can’t regret how it played out, since they got Justin Herbert with the No. 6 pick that year. But something about Brady in LA would have been a lot more entertaining than TB12 on a small-market Bucs squad.
And honestly, it would have been even more special for Brady’s legacy if he had led arguably the NFL’s most snake-bitten franchise to its first Lombardi Trophy.
Peyton Manning Flies To The Jets
Peyton Manning missed the entire 2011 season recovering from offseason neck surgery. The Indianapolis Colts completely unraveled without Manning, sinking to the bottom of the standings with a 2-14 record.
The Colts obtained the No. 1 pick in the 2012 NFL Draft. The hotshot prospect that year was Stanford’s Andrew Luck. For Indy, it was an easy choice to release the 36-year-old Manning and take Luck with the top pick. Manning spoke with the Colts, and the two sides agreed to part ways.
Those who closely followed the Manning free agent sweepstakes of the 2012 offseason will remember that seemingly half the NFL went after him. In the early stages, the New York Jets made it clear that they were interested.
Then-Jets GM Mike Tannenbaum later told ESPN that they reached out to Manning’s agent, but he had no interest in coming there. He wound up signing with the Denver Broncos, and the Jets made the mistake of extending Mark Sanchez.
We know everything worked out for Manning and the Broncos, with two AFC titles and a Super Bowl 50 triumph and all. But we still feel like he would have been the perfect fit for those Jets.
For starters, you’d have Manning vs. Brady twice a year. Rex Ryan, the defensive genius, would have had the fortune of working with an above-average QB. If the Jets could go to consecutive AFC Championship Games with Sanchez, imagine how far they could have gone with Manning?
One or two Super Bowls certainly wouldn’t have been out of the question….
Randy Moss Joins Brett Favre In Green Bay
After two disappointing seasons with the Oakland Raiders, Randy Moss hit the trade block before the 2007 NFL Draft. Immediately, the Green Bay Packers and New England Patriots emerged as the front-runners.
Behind the scenes, then-Packers QB Brett Favre was lobbying hard for the team to get Moss. In 2023, The Athletic posted a story about how close the trade was to happening. Seattle Seahawks GM John Schneider, then working in Green Bay, said they went to bed thinking Moss was Titletown-bound.
But it was the Patriots who got Moss for the low price of a fourth-round draft pick. Favre was openly angry about the trade, and a report revealed that he had even requested a trade before his anger cooled.
Yeah, Moss was awesome and all in New England during their record-breaking 2007 season. But Favre and Moss would have been lights-out as well. And who knows? Maybe Favre never leaves Green Bay in the first place if he had clicked with Moss right off the bat.
Also, the Packers could have totally won Super Bowl 42 with a Favre-Moss tandem. Instead, Favre’s Packers and Moss’ Patriots both had their dreams dashed by the New York Giants.
Raiders Trade For Ben Roethlisberger
In the 2010 NFL offseason, Ben Roethlisberger’s tenure with the Pittsburgh Steelers was awfully close to ending.
Roethlisberger was initially hit with a six-game suspension for the 2010 season after multiple women made disturbing allegations against him. He eventually got the ban reduced to four games.
But the Steelers, unhappy with Roethlisberger’s off-the-field issues, decided to shop him around in the offseason. Ahead of the 2010 draft, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that the Steelers were fielding trade offers for their two-time Super Bowl champion-winning QB. Pittsburgh was reportedly eyeing a top-10 pick in return.
The Raiders and St. Louis Rams spoke to Pittsburgh. But when the Rams made it clear they didn’t want Big Ben, the signs pointed to Roethlisberger landing with Oakland instead. It wasn’t to be, however. The Steelers wound up keeping Roethlisberger, who would spend his entire career there before retiring in 2022.
Now, we’re not sure how much the Raiders would have improved with Roethlisberger. But one way or another, it would have certainly been entertaining. And we could have seen some fun AFC West battles between Big Ben’s Raiders, Philip Rivers’ Chargers, and, eventually, Peyton Manning’s Denver Broncos.
Rob Gronkowski Heads To Motor City
The New England Patriots’ bid to repeat as Super Bowl champions in 2017 ended with a heartbreaking loss to Nick Foles’ Philadelphia Eagles. Minutes after the loss, superstar tight end Rob Gronkowski told reporters that he was considering retirement.
Patriots fans waited in angst for a decision from Gronk, as rumors swirled that he couldn’t stand playing for Bill Belichick anymore. Eventually, Gronk agreed to come back to the Patriots in 2018.
Early that season, Gronk also confirmed reports that he was nearly traded to the Detroit Lions. Gronk, however, told the Patriots he’d just retire if the deal was completed. The trade never materialized, with Gronkowski saying that he refused to play for a QB other than Tom Brady.
For the New England Patriots haters, it sure sucked to see Gronk lead the Pats to another Super Bowl that year. But even if you’re a neutral fan, it’s too darn bad this deal never materialized.
Gronk and Matthew Stafford would have been an electrifying duo to watch together. Not to mention those Lions also had three stud receivers in Kenny Golladay, Golden Tate, and Marvin Jones.
Watching Gronkowski of all guys land with the dysfunctional Lions, one way or another, would have been terrific entertainment. But he just had to stay in New England to win his third of four career Super Bowl rings!
Lamar Jackson Joins Falcons’ Flock
In the 2023 NFL offseason, Jackson stunned everyone by revealing that he had requested a trade from the Baltimore Ravens. Jackson had grown frustrated with the lack of progress in contract extension negotiations.
The Atlanta Falcons immediately stood out as a possible landing spot for Jackson. They had a pressing need at QB, and Jackson could have joined a star-studded offense led by Bijan Robinson, Drake London, and Kyle Pitts.
But Jackson and the Ravens eventually agreed to play nice, and he signed a five-year extension worth $260 million. And with that, the dream of Jackson solving Atlanta’s QB woes had ended. Staying in Baltimore has only led to more disappointing playoff losses, keeping him ringless. But that may change soon.
Steelers Reunite The Watt Brothers
After a disastrous 2020 season, the Houston Texans decided to begin a scorched-earth rebuild. That started with the release of franchise icon and three-time Defensive Player of the Year JJ Watt, who was running out of time to pursue a ring.
Right away, fans and pundits linked JJ Watt to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Not just because younger brother TJ Watt was there, but the Steelers were still in win-now mode and could have given Watt a shot at a title.
But in a surprise, Watt decided to sign with a mediocre Arizona Cardinals team instead. And so ended the chance of watching two brothers and future Hall of Famers wreak havoc on opposing offensive linemen and quarterbacks together.
JJ Watt retired after the 2022 season, and the dream of joining forces with his brother had ended.
“Prime Time” Heads To South Beach
Deion Sanders’ one-year stint with the San Francisco 49ers in 1994 couldn’t have gone any better. He took home Defensive Player of the Year honors and led the 49ers to a Super Bowl 29 victory, the franchise’s fifth Lombardi Trophy in 14 seasons.
After the 1994 season, however, Sanders took his sweet, precious time to find a new home in the NFL offseason. In the summer of 1995, Prime Time told the Dolphins to stop fooling the fans and call his agent. In other words, he wanted to come to Miami.
But nope. The Dolphins were never aggressive enough to seal the deal. He waited until September to sign a long-term deal with the Dallas Cowboys, leading them to a Super Bowl 30 championship that year.
As fun as Prime Time in Dallas? Imagine how different it would be if he went to Miami and boosted Dan Marino’s ring chase? He could have totally helped them get the job done before “Dan the Man” retired. Not like the star-studded Cowboys really needed Prime Time, either…
Brett Favre Teams Up With Jon Gruden In Tampa
After the Packers’ heartbreaking loss to the Giants in the 2007 NFC Championship Game, Favre decided to retire, handing the keys to the car over to Aaron Rodgers.
But Favre created an awkward situation by deciding he wanted to continue playing. He assumed the Packers would welcome him back with open arms, but Mike McCarthy and the front office were firm on moving forward with Rodgers, and so led to an ugly split with Favre.
Jon Gruden and the Buccaneers went hard after Favre. And per a 2018 ESPN story, it was noted that Tampa Bay coaches thought they had Favre… only to learn on television that the New York Jets had acquired the future Hall of Famer for a fourth-round pick.
Favre’s one-year stint in Gotham was a disaster. The Bucs barely missed the playoffs with a 9-7 record, having to roll with a lackluster tandem of Jeff Garcia and Brian Griese.
In hindsight, things could have been way different if Favre and Chuky had teamed up. The Bucs had an elite defense, and the NFC was wide-open that year. Favre could have totally won a second ring in Tampa instead of flopping with the Jets.
But mostly, we just wish we got to see Favre and Gruden together. Imagine all the epic soundbites that are playing on our TVs today.
Aaron Rodgers-49ers Dream Becomes A Reality
After pondering his future in Green Bay, Rodgers had a brief falling out with Packers GM Brian Gutekunst in the 2021 NFL offseason. Before the draft, the three-time MVP then requested a trade from the only NFL team he had ever known.
Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio reported at the time that Rodgers had the Denver Broncos, Las Vegas Raiders, and San Francisco 49ers on his wish list. The Broncos and Raiders were among the AFC’s worst teams at the time, so neither felt like a good fit.
The 49ers? Oh mama. That was the time for Rodgers to join his boyhood team. And for the 49ers to make the move.
But nope. The 49ers would use the No. 3 pick of 2021 on quarterback Trey Lance. Rodgers eventually stopped pouting and agreed to return to the Packers. He would win his fourth MVP award in 2021, but never won another playoff game with Green Bay.
The 49ers? Well, they reached the 2021, 2022, and 2023 NFC Championship Games and lost to Kansas City in overtime of Super Bowl 58. Seeing how stacked those 49ers teams were, Rodgers could have easily won a ring or two with his childhood team if a trade materialized. A true shame it never came to fruition.
