Football has always been considered the ultimate team sport.
BB has ALWAYS been about putting the team first over individual need and wants. He has consistently done this in order to build a team that consistently compete for championships over the long haul.
Fact- Patriots have 17th most cap space (average) among 32 NFL teams for next year No 2nd round pick and multiple free agents besides Brady they would like to re- sign.
How are the Patriots going to put all this top tier talent at WR, TE and OL next year with current cap limitations? Can not assume that ANY drafted rookie will have an immediate impact. Are top tier veterans like Amari Copper or Austin Hooper or even AB going to take massive discounts just to play with TB for 1-2 more years? We all know the answers to these questions are no.
Is it reasonable to expect that Edelman at 34 can continue to avoid injury and performs a top tier receiver-
Does anyone expect that Harry's football IQ will suddenly dramatically improve and he will become a top tier #1 WR next year?
Is Phillip Dorset going to emerge from his complete bust of a season?
Is Izzo or Lacosse going to become a reliable broker or TE
No, No and No
The Dolphins have over 100 million in cap space The Bills have 89 million in Cap space, at least 14 other teams have more cap space than the Patriots.
The point is, Kraft and BB can not give Brady what he wants for the next 1-2 years in terms of talent unless he plays for free. It will be a repeat of this year.
It's tough to say goodbye but based on BB team building principles, no single player, not even Brady can be bigger than the needs of the team and the organization as a whole. We have reached that point with Tom.