Patriots Rumors: Bill Belichick ‘Never Believed’ Tom Brady Would Leave

The Patriots took a nosedive after Tom Brady left New England, and that might have been due in part to Bill Belichick unsuccessfully calling the quarterback’s bluff.

It would have been impossible for the Patriots to replace Brady, the greatest quarterback in NFL history. But New England didn’t even have a plan, and it ended up signing a past-his-prime Cam Newton two months before the start of the 2020 season. It was highly unusual for Belichick to be ill-prepared, but NBC Sports Boston’s Tom E. Curran shed light on why in a column published Sunday.

“Belichick never truly believed Brady would leave,” Curran wrote. “Even when the two men met just days before Brady’s contract expired, sources said Belichick said the Patriots couldn’t carry a salary cap hit of more than $22.5 million.”

A source told Curran: “He talked to (Brady) like he was still on the team, not like he was about to be a free agent.”

Brady went on to make Belichick and the Patriots look foolish when he won his seventh Super Bowl in his first season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. New England rebounded a bit with a 2021 playoff appearance, but the two seasons that followed were so poor that Robert Kraft relieved Belichick of his duties earlier this month.

Belichick probably won’t leave the game on such a sour note, as he’s expected to coach again in the future. However, that opportunity might not come until the 2025 season.

And in the meantime, the legendary coach might join Brady as a media member for the 2024 campaign.