This *****y narrative about Belichick making excuses is tired.
19 consecutive winning seasons, 17 division titles, 13 AFCC game appearances, 9 Super Bowl appearances, 6 wins. Yeah, Bill the general manager is a bum.
Covid is reality. The opt outs were real. The lost practice time was real. The complete lack of cap space was real.
Belichick the GM sold out the future cap from 2017 - 2019 to get Brady another ring. This is why we could not afford Brady in 2020. It succeeded. What is there to not understand?
If Belichick wanted to keep Brady, he would have had to let DMac and Thuney walk. If he wanted to acquire Stephon Diggs to convince Brady to stay, he would have needed to move Gilmore to make the cap space AND give up a 1st, 3rd and 4th to swing the deal.
Do the Patriots make the playoffs with Brady, Diggs, a depleted offensive line and a secondary missing its two best players? Maybe. Do they make it to the Super Bowl? Almost certainly not.
There was no way to keep Brady AND build a competitive team around him. It was a mathematical impossibility. Again, what is it that we continue to fail to understand?