Bill Belichick Admits Hard Truth About Tom Brady’s Painful Split From Patriots originally appeared on NESN. Add NESN as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
After spending 20 seasons with the New England Patriots and winning six Super Bowls, Tom Brady shockingly split from the Patriots in 2020 and joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He finished his career there, winning another Super Bowl during his final three seasons in Florida.
Advertisement
Bill Belichick, who coached Brady during the latter’s entire tenure with New England, recently shared his thoughts on Brady’s decision during an interview with Fox News.
“We were just at the end, and honestly I was happy for him that things worked out well for him in Tampa,” Belichick acknowledged. “It wouldn’t have gone well in 2020 in New England, I can guarantee you that. We put everything we had into the ’19 season, including paying him a lot of money at the end of the year without anything for it.”
The Patriots did make a strong push to win one last title with Brady in 2019, signing Antonio Brown and trading for Mohamed Sanu. Those moves didn’t pan out, however, and New England lost to the Tennessee Titans in the first round of the playoffs.
Advertisement
Brady left for the Buccaneers two months later and immediately won a Super Bowl in his first season with Tampa Bay, validating his decision.
“We all understood that there’s a good chance that he would leave. And I think he made a great career decision, obviously,” Belichick added. “I wish we could have done more, but we went as far as we could.”
The Patriots paid a steep price for not keeping Brady, suffering losing records in four of their first five seasons without him and firing Belichick in 2024. They finally turned things around last year, however, reaching the Super Bowl behind Mike Vrabel, Drake Maye and a new young core.
More NFL:Â NFL Insider Pumps Brakes On Patriots-Eagles A.J. Brown Trade Rumors