The cracks in Tom Brady’s and Bill Belichick’s two-decades-long partnership had been splintering long before the quarterback left the Patriots in free agency.
When reflecting on the developments of this year’s NFL free agency in his 199 newsletter, the seven-time Super Bowl champion expanded on his decision to sign with the Buccaneers in March 2020, calling attention to “natural tension” that developed with Belichick, 72, and how a breakup was the best path forward.
“For me, it was a creeping decision that lived passively in the back of mind for 2-3 years until March of 2020 when a whirlwind of a few days made me realize that a decision was coming sooner rather than later,” Brady, 47, expressed.
“The reality was, after twenty years together, a natural tension had developed between where Coach Belichick and I were headed in our careers, and where the Patriots were moving as a franchise. It was the kind of tension that could only be resolved by some kind of split or one of us reassessing our priorities.”