Robert Kraft Essentially Admits He Chose Bill Belichick Over Tom Brady

The New England Patriots dominated the NFL for the better part of 20 years with Bill Belichick calling the shots and Tom Brady executing the plays on the field.

The duo combined for nine AFC championships and six Super Bowl titles, but the underlying tension between the legendary coach and star quarterback forced Brady to decide to leave the Patriots one year following their Super Bowl LIII win over the Rams.

In the final episode of the Apple TV+ docuseries "The Dynasty," Robert Kraft admitted he wasn't willing to lose Belichick as the Patriots coach to keep Brady with the franchise.

"Regrets? Sure, I would have liked to have seen (Brady's) seventh Super Bowl as a Patriot," Kraft said in Episode 10. "Would Tom have remained if Bill departed as head coach? Yes, I feel pretty strongly about that.

"To be honest, I didn't want to move on from either one, but the point is, keeping them together for 20 years, is the hardest thing I've ever done in my business career. Nothing is perfect in this world as much as we'd like it to be. This is life. That's what happens, and how you deal with it and how you move on."

Even though Brady made the decision to leave New England for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, his reflection on his time with the Patriots doesn't appear to be a negative one.

"In the end, you look back, and seeing the whole journey, you know, it's perfect. It doesn't need to be any more than that," Brady said. "I have unbreakable bonds with those people. I've been through it all with them."

After the Patriots lost Super Bowl LII to the Philadelphia Eagles, Kraft blamed Belichick solely. Had New England not won Super Bowl LIII, the coach may have left the Patriots, not Brady.

"After winning that Super Bowl, I thought what an amazing job our coaching staff did under the leadership of Bill," Kraft recalled. "If I have a thought that Bill was losing it as a head coach and couldn't perform, he had reestablished himself. At that point, Tommy understood Bill would be the head coach for a number of years moving forward."

Brady went on to win his seventh ring in Super Bowl LV, while the Patriots struggled to find their footing by having three of four losing seasons since Brady's departure.