Wickersham Strikes: Belichick talked to Giants/Dolphins/Washington about coaching there in Brady standoff

[Midship]

Report/opinion that is not positive, dare I say critical (*gasp*) of the Patriots or Bill and most of the board instantly dismisses it? I'm shocked

I easily believe Bill would leverage the Krafts like this. It's certainly not out of the realm of possibility.

 

[Hyped]

Are you serious?

 

[Clonamery]

Welll if BB had left I would have so fanboyed him wherever he went. And spammed this forum like a Biffins on steroids.

 

[Boomer B]

It’s funny how a few years back many members of this board were screaming to the rooftops that Wickersham is full of sh*t after his article came out. Then we find out much of what he wrote is true. Now this comes out and many of the same people yelling he’s full of sh*t. I guess nothing bad ever happens in Patriots fantasyland.

 

[ForThoseAboutToRock]

Also - Belichick laughing at him likely happened because there was absolutely no way Brady was being dealt midseason. My assumption is the discussion between Kraft and Belichick centered on keeping Jimmy through the season and possibly parting with Brady after the season, and I'm guessing that didn't sit well. So whatever friction there might have been, that's my theory. Although, I'm probably more likely to be wrong since I'm just speculating.

Ian do you have a sense for whether Wickersham's more likely getting this information from Belichick or Kraft?

 

[upstater1]

If you listen to the interview he says he heard he spoke to those teams when they had openings but didn’t know if it was about him wanting the job. Bb is notorious for recommending coaches when there are openings and 2 of those teams hired his guys.

He's regurgitating Tanguy's story. Might as well regurgitate Tomase's thoughts.

 

[Ring 6]

It fails the common sense test too. You are incapable of believing anything that might cast Bill in a bad light unless it is overridden by your contempt for Cam Newton.

Attack the messenger all you want, but Wickersham despite his BSPN affiliation has been pretty close to spot on his reporting on this subject.

You think it’s common sense to dump Tom Brady for Jimmy g while Brady is playing as good as ever??? You must have failed common sense class.
Nothing wickersham said has turned out to be true. He created a story that has not been confirmed at all, but Brady went elsewhere so people see that as being right, which simply is not the case.

 

[Ring 6]

And yes, before you ask me, I believe that conversation happened. Shanahan said it publicly and I obviously remember the report and the quote:

John Lynch Confirms Tom Brady Trade Offer, Says Bill Belichick 'Laughed at Me'

"We were calling about Jimmy and we did have that conversation and got quickly rebuffed," Lynch said on Barstool Sports' Pardon My Take podcast.

"I figured, 'What the heck, you gotta take your shot, right? You can't score if you don't shoot.' I had to summon up the courage and Bill [Belichick] laughed at me and basically hung up on me. But hey, I took my shot."

However, looking back, I wonder if that was in the context of a midseason trade. Again, we'll never know, but that would explain things a little better if he laughed at the thought of dealing Brady at the deadline vs giving the 49ers Garoppolo.

Does it matter when it was?

 

[Ian]

Ian do you have a sense for whether Wickersham's more likely getting this information from Belichick or Kraft?

I don't, although I do remember some discussion about possibly Jonathan Kraft. Again, just speculation, but that's what I believe some felt at the time.

 

[Ring 6]

He's regurgitating Tanguy's story. Might as well regurgitate Tomase's thoughts.

He’s a hack, but he’s a good one because the stuff he makes up stirs the pot every one is watching.

 

[Ian]

Does it matter when it was?

Sort of...would kind of ad some context to match up with those reports and make it a little easier to understand.

 

[Ring 6]

It’s funny how a few years back many members of this board were screaming to the rooftops that Wickersham is full of sh*t after his article came out. Then we find out much of what he wrote is true. Now this comes out and many of the same people yelling he’s full of sh*t. I guess nothing bad ever happens in Patriots fantasyland.

He is and always has been full of ****. By all means let’s make of list of these things he wrote that people keep saying are true. Nothing has been confirmed.

 

[Ring 6]

Sort of...would kind of ad some context to match up with those reports and make it a little easier to understand.

So you think belichick would laugh at him and say “I’m not trading the best QBs in the nfl do you think im an idiot” during the season but in the off season he wanted to trade him?
Belichick abs Brady won together and belichick knew Brady’s value more than anyone. It’s ridiculous to believe that belichick wanted to dump Brady in the middle of a 4 Sb trips, 3 wins in a 5 year period. He isnt crazy or stupid.

 

[patfanken]

Kind of interesting that PFT has mentioned NEITHER the Wickersham claims OR the Packer trade rumor

 

[Ian]

So you think belichick would laugh at him and say “I’m not trading the best QBs in the nfl do you think im an idiot” during the season but in the off season he wanted to trade him?
Belichick abs Brady won together and belichick knew Brady’s value more than anyone. It’s ridiculous to believe that belichick wanted to dump Brady in the middle of a 4 Sb trips, 3 wins in a 5 year period. He isnt crazy or stupid.

I think he would absolutely say, "I’m not trading the best QBs in the NFL in the middle of the season. Do you think I'm an idiot?"

That would make sense. Again, I'm just speculating, but that would be the more logical reason to absolutely shoot it down. There's absolutely no way Brady would have been moved at the deadline that year. I 100% feel that way. From there, I don't know if Belichick was at the point where he just really didn't want to chance letting Jimmy go and pondered making that tough call. Brady was what, 38 at the time? And they had won two more rings I believe at that point...maybe he felt like the window was closing and he was nervous about letting Garoppolo go. Again, only he knows the real answer. But one other thing to remember is of all the QBs who came through here, maybe Belichick finally said, "we've finally got something with this kid" and went to bat to keep him. It sort of sounded like that might have been the case.

Believe me, I was part of the "keep Brady" camp. My verdict is on Jimmy G was it was just bad timing and I regret nothing. I think they should have given Brady a multi-year deal and ran with him until the wheels came off. In my opinion, you keep betting on the guy who keeps outworking everybody and playing at a high level. But that doesn't change the fact there were conflicting reports outside of just Wickersham that make you wonder how/what the thought process really was.

 

[DropKickFlutie]

This isn't really breaking news. I remember there being similar speculation at the time that Bill was frustrated and was supposedly upset enough to explore other options and I believe I remember the Washington and Giants thing (not the Miami one). But again, it never turned into anything and well...here we are.

(UPDATE: Here was the thread on that: Tanguay: Belichick inquired about Washington job after JG trade)

At the same time, as much as we hate to admit it, Wickersham ended up being right about much of what he reported. We can talk about the things he may or may not have gotten right, but there were obviously more truths than mistruths, which I think surprised all of us.

Wickersham has absolutely been right on multiple key news. Some here are major homers. Whether Kraft would have been ok with it or not it makes sense BB would be talking to gauge his possibilities.

 

[Ian]

Wickersham has absolutely been right on multiple key news. Some here are major homers. Whether Kraft would have been ok with it or not it makes sense BB would be talking to gauge his possibilities.

It's OK to be a homer. But at the same time, you still have to have a little bit of an open mind to understand these are human beings who make mistakes. However, that being said, you also have to still be able to take the bad with the good and not go off the deep end when times get tough

 

[BTTA]

I want 5 #1 picks from each of those three teams for tampering and tempting the GOAT who was under contract.

 

[gobesmug]

BS if anyone thinks Kraft would ever let Belichick go.

The cost would be 5 #1s.

I bet Kraft would prefer Brady over Bill.

A HOF QB >> Any HC ever in today's NFL.

Bill also isn't young either, it's possible that Bill is done coaching the same time Brady is done playing QB.

From that stand point, Brady is more valuable.

 

[PatsDeb]

I call BS. The end.