Tom Brady Reportedly Once Considered Forcing Trade Away From Patriots

Long before Tom Brady left New England for Tampa Bay, he apparently had his sights set on Los Angeles.

ESPN’s Seth Wickersham on Oct. 12 will release a new book titled, “It’s Better to Be Feared: The New England Patriots Dynasty and the Pursuit of Greatness.” The book promises to offer unprecedented insight into the Patriots dynasty, specifically the relationships between Tom Brady, Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft.

But ESPN on Wednesday released a preview for the book, and it contained multiple juicy details, including this nugget:

The strain within the franchise had been coming for years, the book says. At one point years earlier, if there was an NFL franchise in Los Angeles, Brady might have tried to force a trade there, according to those close to him.

“Kraft sometimes groaned to confidants that Belichick didn’t show him the respect he deserved, but he was in no rush for life after him,” Wickersham writes. “Brady, though, seemed ready for it. … ‘I don’t want to play for Bill anymore,’ he told people close to him in 2017.”

The Chargers relocated from San Diego to Los Angeles in 2017. The Rams relocated from St. Louis to L.A. the prior year. ESPN’s preview does not specify whether Brady preferred either of those teams, or a potential expansion franchise.

Of course, Brady and Belichick will reunite Sunday night when the Patriots host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.