The New England Patriots dynasty was toppled in 2020 following the departure of legendary quarterback Tom Brady. Brady, who played 20 seasons in New England alongside head coach Bill Belichick, left to join the Tampa Bay Buccaneers following a Wild Card loss to the Tennessee Titans.
Brady’s decision set off a chain of events which would ultimately lead to Belichick’s departure in 2025 after he failed to find a viable option to replace the future Hall of Fame quarterback.
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But Belichick ultimately holds no ill will toward Brady for opting to leave for Tampa, as he shared on Fox News’ “Hang Out with Sean Hannity” that it was the right decision for him.
“Tom leaving was absolutely the right thing to do,” Belichick said. “We didn’t have a good team in 2020. We just didn’t have a good football team. We had all those guys that left — (Rob) Gronkowski and (Julian) Edelman. Most of our team was gone. (Devin) McCourty and a few others were still there, but they were about to go, too. We were just at the end.
“And honestly, I was happy for him that things worked out well for him in Tampa, because he was with a team … and then he went on and won. That made me happy for him, because Tom — it wouldn’t have gone well in 2020 in New England. On this, I can guarantee that.”
Brady would go on to play three seasons in Tampa, winning a Super Bowl in 2020, while leading the NFL in passing yards and touchdowns.
Simultaneously, Belichick opted to replace Brady by signing veteran quarterback Cam Newton who led one of the worst passing attacks in the league that season throwing for just 8 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
What was apparent was the lack of offensive depth put around Brady near the end of his run with the Patriots, something that Belichick regrets as the team fumbled several high value picks at key positions.
“I wish we could have done more, but we went as far was we could,” Belichick said. “And look, he proved it — he played longer than anybody, played at a higher level than anybody. And again, tremendous credit to him. Nobody else did that — that was him.”
The talent deficiency and lack of clarity on his standing with the team was the driving force for Brady to leave the franchise which has been well documented since the break up. Although both were ready for a fresh start at the time, Belichick looks back with nothing but admiration for Brady’s contributions.
“I learned so much from Tom. I never played quarterback,” Belichick said. “Tom saw the game through a quarterback’s eyes. I saw the games through a coach’s eyes. Together, I think we both learned a lot from each other. Tom, how defensive coaches looked at him or looked at offense. Me, on what a quarterback can do and what he can’t do, what’s hard, what’s easy, what I can see, what I can’t see, and how you see the game.
“Tom wasn’t a dominant personality. He was just a great leader. He would do whatever you asked him to do. Honestly, if you told him to go out there and run a reverse and block the defensive end, he’s go block the defensive end. He’d do whatever the team needed him to do, and he was very competitive.”
Patrick Dowd is a contributor for Ball Exclusives. You can follow him on Twitter, via Pat_Dowd77
