this has NO basis in ANY fact. This is classic "click bait" for book sellers
Lets go back (AGAIN) to the time line. The Pats draft JG in 2014 as Brady nears the USUAL time for QB's to start to slow down. Perfectly understandable. The good news is that the draft pick (#62) looks like a good one. Fast forward to 2017 (jimmy's contact year and he's improved, but the fact is that Brady STILL hasn't slowed down and he's STILL the best QB on the team. It didn't hurt that the Pats were on a run where they went to FOUR superbowls in 5 years, and winning 3, WITH the QB they decided to keep. Not to mention another 12 wins in 2019 with the now 42 year old Qb.
So I just can't see much drama happening in 2017. Brady was STILL the better QB. So it wasn't a matter of IF JG was going but when and for how much. THey could either trade him at the deadline or watch him walk away at the end of the year. If I had a complaint it was not trading him back in April where he would have gotten a first for him. In the ned they got a high first for him which might not satisfy some people but it was a LOT better than the 3rd round comp they would have gotten if they had done nothing
They were NOT going to get rid of Tom at that point and 2 Superbowl wins and a 14 win season proved THAT decision to be the correct one. All that being said, there was a good case to be made that Tom looked like he was slowing down in 2019. As it turned out that was more a case about injuries and talent than Brady slowing down.
I have ZERO problem with the Pats and Brady moving on from each other in 2020, especially for Tom. When you are at the end of a career it is perfectly understandable that you should be selfish. He needed to be in a place where he could compete for Superbowls, A place with TONS of skill platyers (and that was BEFORE Gronk and AB signed) and that's where he went.
As for the Pats, No one was complaining about Cam immediately after the Seattle game. And it will always be a great trivia question (and huge monety maker on bets) when it's asked "who was the QB for Edelman's finest day as an NFL WR).
Somehow TH.AT QB was lost between the 2nd and 16th game. Maybe that guy is still in there and for reasons WE don't know Just like we all thought that Brady was losing it after 2019 when it turned out to be things that could be corrected either through health, talent, or both\
At any rate, Wickersham is a headline whore. Show up with a provocative headline and you can get an hour on almost every sports talk show all across the country to flog your book, That's what I'm going to do when my book is ready to be published,.