Asante Samuel has officially crossed out New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick's name from his list of GOATs.

When it comes to the conversation of Belichick as the greatest coach in NFL history, Samuel didn't mince words with CBS Sports' Bryant McFadden on Monday.

Asante Samuel was adamant Bill Belichick's sub-par record without Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has ruled him out of the GOAT conversation.

Asante, a four-time Pro Bowl cornerback who played for the Patriots from 2003 to 2007, makes a valid point. Belichick and Brady both joined the New England organization in 2000. They worked together for the next 20 seasons.

Brady missed a combined 166 games during that 20-season time frame from 2000 to 2019. Belichick won just 79 of those games.

Had Brady been an injury-prone quarterback, would Belichick's record have been worse? Unless he found a top-caliber signal caller who could pick up the slack for Brady, Belichick could have averted potential disaster in that situation.

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On the flip side, one can only wonder how Belichick's track record would have fared over the years if former New York Jets linebacker Mo Lewis didn't obliterate Drew Bledsoe in 2001.

It was a hit that changed the fortunes of the Patriots franchise forever. Brady was the next man up. The rest, as they say, was history.

Had the Patriots gone with a mediocre quarterback, Belichick would not be in the GOAT conversation, for sure.

However, Belichick and the Patriots apparently knew what they were doing when they selected Brady with the 199th overall selection of the 2000 NFL Draft.

Bill Belichick's instinct was spot on. When Brady got his chance, he seized it and never looked back. Selecting unheralded Tom Brady 23 years ago is reason enough to include Bill Belichick in the GOAT conversation. Unless Asante Samuel has something to say about it.