Tom Brady doesn’t need an introduction. The man has had an NFL career that anyone could only dream of – let alone a life that anyone could dream of. He’s won 6 Super Bowl Rings, has 3x MVP awards – there is no need to say more as we all know that he’s one of the greatest to ever play this game. He’s defied age. He and Belichick have a created a sports empire that will probably never be matched in Foxborough.
But yet, despite being apart of a great situation for nearly two decades, there are rumors that the future first-ballot hall-of-famer will be leaving his team. Although most take such rumors with a metric ton full of salt, this time around, these rumors of his impending exit may be truer than a lot of Patriots fans would like to admit, for a few reasons.
Unbeknownst to many NFL fans outside of New England, Tom Brady has been taking paycuts and has been paid under market value for someone of his stature for a large portion of his career – especially this past decade. He has often constructed his contract in order to make room for the Patriots to sign better players. But as we’ve seen this year – and even some years in the past – the Patriots haven’t returned their end of the deal. This year, Brady – at the tender age of 42 – is playing with a less than stellar cast of receivers and running backs. Names like N’Keal Harry probably give Brady tourette-like symptoms. Sony Michel has not become the running back many Patriots fans hoped he would – Belichick the GM really messed up not getting Nick Chubb, who was available at the time and is playing well on the Browns. Brady must be frustrated that his paycuts are going to waste (luckily his wife is mega rich so it can’t hurt that much). And again, this isn’t the first time this has happened. In 2006, Brady had probably his worst supporting cast. His receiving talent consisted of a 36 year old Troy Brown, who, despite having a great career with the Patriots, was nowhere near a great receiver at that stage at his career, Jabaar Gafney, a solid receiver with virtually zero awards, accolades, or accomplishments in his 10 year NFL career, and Reche Caldwell, a receiver is literally known best for dropping multiple passes from Brady in the 2006 AFC Championship game that cost them a trip to the Super Bowl, and also for going to prison. Enough said. This followed a stretch of years from 2002-2005 where his only good receiver was Deion Branch. The point is that the Patriots being cheap to Brady isn’t a rare occurrence, and is one that surely irks him given what he has accomplished and help bring to this franchise.
Tom Brady is 42 years old. He doesn’t have time to be playing with a receiving corps and running back corps that are lame. To drive this point home, compare Brady’s roster this year to what Peyton Manning had around him in his last year in Denver. Peyton had Demarius Thomas, Emmanuel Sanders, and CJ Anderson at their primes to help bolster a broken down, nearly expiring shell of himself. Brady – who, despite possible signs of decline (which is still debatable) – is nowhere near as off as Peyton was that season. Tommy can still throw and move around. So it probably angers him that the Patriots are really not taking advantage of this and ensuring a good roster offensively.
Lastly, the reasons for Brady leaving still go back to unresolved conflicts between him and Bill Belichick (and even Robert Kraft). As we remember back in January 2018, reports about their feud came to light. In the additional months, messages from Brady, and even Belichick’s aides, painted a clear picture that Brady feels slighted and disrespected and belittled and even envied by Bill despite all of his accomplishments – and Bill feels that Brady isn’t as great and that he is just as expendable as any other.
Kraft took Brady’s side during this feud – which is why Belichick eventually traded Garopollo – but the feud lives on, and is not getting any better. Rumors have come out that Brady wanted to keep Antonio Brown, but Kraft is ultimately the one who wanted him again, and it appears that he still wants him gone. Although what Brown off the field was cause for concern, Tom Brady – already feeling slighted – probably doesn’t accept that as a legit excuse to let go of Antonio Brown, as not only have other teams like the Chiefs and Browns signed their troubled stars, but also, Kraft’s excuse of AB reflecting poorly on the organization sounds phony given his recent scandal earlier this year in Florida. Tom Brady, already not on good times with Belichick, doesn’t need a reason to be on bad terms with his owner, especially this year where Brady is in a precarious situation. Tom Brady’s greatness comes from how doubted he has been his whole career. Being a 6th round draft pick was a tough enough hill to climb, and fueled him enough. In 2010, Peyton Manning was ranked nearly 13 spots ahead of Tom Brady in the NFL’s 100 Greatest Players of All Time list, despite all Brady had already accomplished by then. Even now, after more success, and records, and memorable moments, and a combined total of 6 Super Bowl titles, not only does the media still constantly express lack of belief in him and his teams every year, not only do many people and even a surprisingly noticeable – even if small – amount of so-called “analysts” still try to call him a “system QB”, he has to deal with his own coach still viewing him expendable, replaceable, and nothing-special.
When you take all of this into account, it’d make sense that in the middle of his 20th season with this organization, with all he’s done, and all that has happened to him, he’d feel angry, disrespected, and ready to leave. He probably would like to win without Belichick – and vice versa.
