There are several ways to look at Tom Brady's retirement Instagram post, in which he failed to mention the Patriots despite spending 20 of his 22 NFL seasons with New England.
One, perhaps Brady holds a grudge against the organization. While he expressed gratitude Tuesday in response to a glowing sendoff from Patriots owner Robert Kraft, there's certainly reason to believe Brady might still be chapped about his 2020 departure from New England.
Two, perhaps Brady purposely omitted the Patriots -- just not with any ill will in mind. There's an argument to be made that Brady officially closed the book on his New England tenure upon leaving the franchise and that he simply didn't find it necessary to go back down that road. Weird? Sure. But possible, nonetheless.
Three, perhaps Brady simply forgot -- OK, that's farfetched for someone so calculated in his decision-making.
Which brings us to a fourth hypothetical, which Kevin Wildes floated on Wednesday's episode of "First Things First" on FS1: What if Brady is intentionally saving his official Patriots acknowledgment?
"Your old buddy, Kevin Wildes, can't do a lot of stuff," Wildes said. "Want me to break down the All-22 like I'm Dan Orlovsky? Can't do it. Want me to break down the nuances of the salary cap and how to restructure (Patrick) Mahomes' contract like Nick (Wright)? Can't do it. But do you want me to take disparate shards of intel that are floating around and come up with a half-baked idea? Well, partner, you came into the right bar. Because we serve that here on tap 24 hours a day.
"I think this is a long media rollout, and here is my evidence."
Wildes pointed to the photo Brady used for his retirement post -- which shows the QB in a Tampa Bay Buccaneers uniform playing against the Patriots at Gillette Stadium -- as well as a comment the seven-time Super Bowl champion made after that Oct. 3 game in Foxboro about potentially returning to New England someday.
Wildes then highlighted a Brady-specific logo that Kraft used at the bottom of his statement Tuesday as possible evidence that something Patriots-related could be in the works.
"So that is my case that I think there is something major afoot," Wildes said. "No way did the greatest football player of all time say, 'You know what I'm going to do? A nine-page Instagram post.' Joe Montana retired in front of 25,000 people in San Francisco. Bill Walsh was there. John Madden was there. It was a beautiful moment. The idea that he knows that -- he's a student of the game -- and said, 'You know what I'm going to do, since my career has eclipsed Joe Montana? An Instagram post.'
"No way, my friend. I think there is something massive coming to Foxboro. ... Something major is happening. It's a reason to be optimistic, Patriots Nation."
Of course, you could say none of this really matters. And to be fair, there was a hint of sarcasm in Wildes' voice as he offered his "half-baked" theory. Short of Brady pulling a 180 and suiting up for the Patriots next season (no chance), would anything really qualify as "massive" at this point?
Maybe he signs a one-day contract to retire with the Patriots. Maybe the team builds him a statue outside Gillette Stadium. Maybe he drops an additional social media post about his time in New England.
Until then, we're left with random conspiracy theories about Brady's announcement, with Wildes adding to the mix Wednesday in what seemed like a desperate attempt to explain away the apparent snub.
