Brady on tensions with Belichick that could only be resolved with a split.

[rkarp1]

This is all stuff we knew already unless you've using mental gymnastics to convince yourself Kraft didn't want to pay Brady

Kraft was contractually bound to allow Bill to make every football decision
it literally was either or between Tom or Bill.
Kraft chose wrongly

 

[Disco Volante]

Yayy. This topic never gets old. This should be fun.

Brady has never stated it in such specific terms, this is indeed very newsworthy.

Regardless of someone you wanting to act like it never happened.

 

[Wax Frog]

The opening narration from "Chisum", reinterpreted by DeepSeek with a prompt focused on our favorite subject...



Masshole-chisum*! Masshole-chisum*!
[*Masochism]

Hoodie on! They say that you can’t let it go.
Will you cling to six-ring glory, or keep screaming ‘bout who’s low?
They’re betting Brady ditched you, that Kraft chose Bill to shove,
But you’re still cursing Tampa, swearing Tommy’s lost his glove.
Masshole-chisum, Pats-obsessed and torn,
Weary, bleary, screaming ‘bout the scorn.

Masshole-chisum, Masshole-chisum,
Can you still keep *****ing on? Ah!

Now the chowder’s cold and bitter, and you can’t stop thinking back,
To Spygate’s sneaky cameras and the balls that lost their slack.
Was it Bill who froze out Tommy, or Kraft who pulled the strings?
You’re chasing every Reddit thread for the pain that theory brings.

Can you still keep *****ing on? Woo-hoo!

Well, you’ve raged beyond the Deflategate, fought the refs, the league, the lies,
Clung to “Do Your Job” like gospel, with tequila in your eyes.
You’ve screamed about Guerrero, that TB12 snake oil scam,
Did Bill bench Tom for ego, or Malcolm just to damn?
That Super Bowl still stings you—Butler sidelined, no one knows,
Was it spite or secret genius? The wound forever grows.
You’ve carved your fandom’s empire near Gillette’s frosty gates,
But the fight—who’s the villain?—still rips through tailgate debates.

Masshole-chisum, weary, hoodie-worn,
Masshole-chisum,
Can you still keep *****ing on?
Can you still keep *****ing on?

[Sounds of drunken arguing over a crackling radio: “It was Bill’s fault!” “No, Kraft’s the snake!” “Tom’s a diva!” “Why’d he bench Malcolm?!”]

[Fade out with a lone fan muttering, “They taped the Jets, I’m tellin’ ya…”]

 

[Hugepatsfan]

The Guerrero stuff is the one thing I will always defend BB on to the death. guy is a cook. if Brady and whoever else want to see him, fine. But the team has an obligation to the players to offer the services of real trainers with actual medical knowledge and qualifications up to par. I'm sure BB could have handled it better, but it shows a real lack of perspective on Brady's part that he was upset at Guererro not being allowed to be affiliated with the team.

 

[Hugepatsfan]

Kraft was contractually bound to allow Bill to make every football decision
it literally was either or between Tom or Bill.
Kraft chose wrongly

Did BB even make the "decision" to let Tom go? He obviously didn't see it as the end of the world, but I'm not sure it's accurate that he ever wanted Tom gone. He laughed off trade inquiries on Brady. He wanted to extend Jimmy per reports, but in a backup role. By all account BB never actually wanted Brady out, he was just steadfast in believing they should be prepared for life after him and the idea that they could have success without him which Brady got really sensitive to over time.

Feels like the narrative over time gotten twisted that BB thought they'd be better without Brady and wanted him gone. Feels like the reality was BB still through Brady was the best they could do and preferred him to stay, just that he thought father time was making some impact and would eventually wipe him out like it does everyone else which offended Brady because he wanted someone who believed that wasn't the case. Between those hurt feelings and the roster deterioration it got to a point where Brady was pushed over the edge and wanted out himself, not the other way around.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Did BB even make the "decision" to let Tom go? He obviously didn't see it as the end of the world, but I'm not sure it's accurate that he ever wanted Tom gone. He laughed off trade inquiries on Brady. He wanted to extend Jimmy per reports, but in a backup role. By all account BB never actually wanted Brady out, he was just steadfast in believing they should be prepared for life after him and the idea that they could have success without him which Brady got really sensitive to over time.

I think it depends on your point of view. My understanding is in 2019 BB offered Tom $22m to stay. Tom declined. It was reported that BB and Kraft were shocked Tom didn't take it as he had always taken team-friendly deals in the past. BB wanted to keep Jimmy but he wanted to start so he moved him. Before and during this time Tom stopped coming to OTCs, etc.

Now, with that said does that clearly show BB "wanted" Tom?

Feels like the narrative over time gotten twisted that BB thought they'd be better without Brady and wanted him gone. Feels like the reality was BB still through Brady was the best they could do and preferred him to stay, just that he thought father time was making some impact and would eventually wipe him out like it does everyone else which offended Brady because he wanted someone who believed that wasn't the case. Between those hurt feelings and the roster deterioration it got to a point where Brady was pushed over the edge and wanted out himself, not the other way around.

It's been said that they thought eventually they could replace Tom with a comparable player. I don't believe that.

I think BB wanted to rebuild and knew Tom wouldn't be happy with it. I think BB would have been OK with Tom staying but he saw his departure as an opportunity to accelerate the rebuild. He was doing fine until 2022 and 2023.

 

[BelizePats]

I laughed out loud. Thank you!

 

[Brotherblues]

Candidly, I personally blame Kraft for the succession botch. I was willing to give him leeway right up until he hired Mayo and that God awful staff.

Inexcusable misstep.

But…hoping the finally got it right.

Agreed. And all the backchannel bs with Mayo in BB's final seasons creating a multitude of toxic "camps" destroying the team from the inside out. That's on Kraft.

Since Mayo and Glaser left, we haven't heard the word "camp" once. Now we have people who want to work together and pull in the same direction. To be fair, this correction is also on Kraft.

 

[Pape]

Tension thy name is

 

[1960Pats]

Candidly, I personally blame Kraft for the succession botch. I was willing to give him leeway right up until he hired Mayo and that God awful staff.

Inexcusable misstep.

But…hoping the finally got it right.

Bob will go down as the owner who let the GOAT QB and GOAT HC get away and got nothing in return... because that's exactly what he did.

 

[Triumph]

 

[Triumph]

Bob will go down as the owner who let the GOAT QB and GOAT HC get away and got nothing in return... because that's exactly what he did.

With the exception of Thunder telling BB to get rid of Jimmy, Krafts meddling has caused the Pats to lose.

 

[TheRainMaker]

With the exception of Thunder telling BB to get rid of Jimmy, Krafts meddling has caused the Pats to lose.

Jimmy was going to be a FA after the 2017 season. They either had to sign him before FA or get something in return. Jimmy wouldn't have played until 2020. Brady forced their hand.

 

[1960Pats]

With the exception of Thunder telling BB to get rid of Jimmy, Krafts meddling has caused the Pats to lose.

The best way seems to be to let the football guys have a free reign, then all they need are the right players and coaches.

 

[Triumph]

I am not looking at Tom or Bill
20 years is a long time to be great
what surprises me, is the lack of preparedness in seeing it end.
zero plan to succeed Tom, Josh, Scar, Gronk. lack of urgency as staff leaves the building.
we went from 2 steps ahead of everyone, to seeing things pass us by, and from having a midas touch to not being able to do anything right.
Cam? Harry? Wynn? MattP as the OC?
seriously?

Exactly

I have wondered myself. BB had no successor for Brady and BB knew Brady was out. Stidham? WTF, happened there? Then in the 23rd hour BB signs Cam.

Scar and Gronk are irreplaceable IMO.

 

[Jackson 2]

While there isn't much to support Guerrero scientifically it is hard to argue with the results. No player has had the kind of longevity that Tom had and certainly not a career as injury-free. He only missed games due to the ACL tear and the Deflategate BS.

I should have been more explanatory. He may have been an effective trainer, but he was a professional fraud. and Brady and he overreacted in their efforts to make him the Patriots' defacto head trainer. Belichick had no problem with Dr. Quack being Brady's health guy, but he correctly held Guerrero off. Guerrero was sanctioned multiple times by the Federal Trade Commission and by the American Medical Association for fraudulent activities.

 

[upstater1]

Cam Newton was not heavily criticized?
MattP was not?
Harry was not?

from day 1 posters were pissed

Harry was slated to go HIGHER in the mock draft database.

Go back and read the thread on the day Harry was selected. 2 posters expressed misgivings. It was 98% celebration. I mean, the thread is still here.

Look, when Brady was 37, Belichick selected Garoppolo as his successor.

Remember, Steve Young replaced Montana when Montana was 31. Rodgers replaced Favre when Favre was younger than Brady was when Garoppolo was selected.

AND yet, Kraft in his craziness interpreted this as some sort of crazy scheme by Belichick. His own coach was preparing to move on from a guy who would be 41 at the end of JG's contract, and that was somehow treated as a horrible thing to do!

By the time the Brady/Guerrero thing went down, Belichick wasn't about to go down the same road. He said FINE, you want to do everything to appease the situation, let's trade for Antonio Brown, let give up a 2nd for Mohammed Sanu, let's spend a 1st on NKeal Harry, let's resign Josh Gordon, let's sign Demaryious Thomas, Ben Watson, Austin Seferian Jenkins, Phillip Dorsett and Bruce Ellington. The idea that Brady was somehow short-thrifted that year with a lack of resources spent on WRs is preposterous.

In retrospect, people will always complain about how things turned out, while overlooking the fact that the team spent to the hilt, were way over the cap in 2020, and they paid $1m to Cam Newton because that was the max they could spend on QB. Rebuild started in 2021, and by 2022, it was obvious we needed to replace 7 starters on defense (Hightower, McCourty, Gilmore, Chung, Van Noy, Collins, etc.) who were too old and slow to cause Buffalo to punt the ball even once in an entire game.

 

[TB12TheGoat]

it was the Butler benching

it's a damn miracle this team won the year after that

 

[Wozzy]

Kraft was contractually bound to allow Bill to make every football decision
it literally was either or between Tom or Bill.
Kraft chose wrongly

Bill and Bob both said they offered Tom a contract.

It's the "free" part of free agent that the Brady honks and BB haters here struggle with.

Gisselle wanted to live in Florida to be closer to her karate teacher.

The Patriots entered the 2020 season with the third most dead cap, nearly dead last in available cap space and needed to re-sign or replace 12 starters or major contributors including QB... the most expensive position in football. They burned through every resource playing in 4 Super Bowls over five years and winning 3 of them.

There was no going forward. Tom at 43 years old didn't want to waste a year resetting the salary cap so they could rebuild the following season when he was 44. Not when he could earn 30 million per in a tax free state and play WR's who led the entire league in passing for two years straight.

Move on with your lives. Nothing lasts forever. Just be glad you were there to witness it.

 

[condon84]

I don't thnk Bill anticipated Brady leaving, otherwise he would have signed Jimmy to an extension. He saw enough of Brady during 19+ years and thought he was always going to be a good soldier, agree to a team friendly contract and deal with his tough coaching. I think that's Bill's biggest ****up (aside from not picking Lamar when he was available in the draft).