The New England Patriots will not play this weekend after earning a first-round bye in the AFC playoffs, but they still will be the talk of football Friday morning.
ESPN is set to publish a story Friday morning detailing what is described as a “rift” in the organization between quarterback Tom Brady, head coach Bill Belichick and owner Robert Kraft.
The piece, which is written by renowned investigative reporter Seth Wickersham, reportedly will delve into the fractured relationship between the three, which stems from the question of who deserves the most credit for the dynasty’s success, according to Bruce Allen of Boston Sports Media Watch.
Allen also reported that one of the biggest bombshells of the piece is that Brady forced the trade of backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, and that many Patriots believe this is the last year together for Brady, Belichick and Kraft.
ESPN’s Sarah Spain confirmed the story will be published in a subsequent tweet, but did not discuss the content of the story.
ProFootballTalk reported Friday that the story will not state that Brady asked for Garoppolo to be traded.
Boston Sports Journal’s Greg Bedard gave some of his thoughts on the reported piece Thursday night, giving props to Wickersham for being plugged in.
But Bedard also doubts that Brady explicitly asked for Garoppolo to be traded, believing it was more subtle than that.
And as for the “rift:”
Wickersham already has dropped some bombshells on the NFL this season with his reporting on Roger Goodell and Jerry Jones, so this new piece is sure to be the talk of the NFL landscape for some time.
