Bill Belichick’s penchant for being a year early versus a year late on cutting ties with veteran players is one of the Patriots head coach’s foremost guiding principles.
Typically, the strategy works out, and New England dominates its competition.
But is the apparent willingness to let Tom Brady leave for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers eventually going to haunt Belichick?
Former Philadelphia Eagles running back Brian Westbrook certainly believes so.
During Wednesday’s “First Things First” episode (which saw Nick Wright claim New England will be better than Tampa Bay this season), Westbrook made his prediction for the 2020 Patriots.
“I have the Bucs ending up being 10-6,” Westbrook said. ” … I actually have the Patriots being a little bit worse, being 8-8. … This may be the season that Bill Belichick, as the leader of the Patriots that does everything, finally says, ‘Maybe I made a wrong move in the player-evaluation side of things. Maybe I made a wrong move with getting rid of Tom Brady.’
“The same way he made a wrong move in getting rid of Jamie Collins, who he ended up bringing back. The same way he made a wrong move getting rid of Asante Samuel, who went on to three Pro Bowls as a member of the Philadelphia Eagles. To me, it was a bad move to get rid of Tom Brady, and I think this would be the season that it’s going to cost them just a bit.”
"I have the Bucs being 10-6. … I have the Patriots being 8-8. This may be the season Belichick finally says, 'Maybe I made a wrong move getting rid of Brady.' It was a bad move to get rid of him & this would be the season that it's going to cost them just a bit." — @36westbrook pic.twitter.com/X8N83lax0l
— First Things First (@FTFonFS1) May 6, 2020
That Jamie Collins analogy was way off, but whatever.
Time will tell whether the Patriots were right to turn their backs on Brady. However, even if New England struggles this season, some around the NFL apparently believe Belichick is playing the long game with sophomore quarterback Jarrett Stidham.
