Tom Brady will not line up under center for the New England Patriots in 2020, the first year of his career in which he will don another uniform.
One NFL executive said Pats brass only have themselves to blame for Brady's departure due to a perceived lack of respect on Brady's part, via Mike Sando of The Athletic:
“They created the environment that forced Brady to leave if he felt any respect to himself,” one of these execs said. “The fact that Brady went well past money being a factor and even winning being a factor, he was determined to move if they weren’t going to treat him with the respect that his performance warranted.”
The Patriots did not do much to boost performance on the offensive side of the football last season.
Injuries decimated the offensive line. The wide receivers disappointed, and the addition of Antonio Brown was short-lived after Brown was accused of sexual assault. Running back Sony Michel was invisible for most of the season.
New England made their priorities clear throughout the years, consistently looking to add and revamp the defensive unit while hoping their draft picks would pan out offensively. But those picks–notably wideout N'Keal Harry–were supremely underwhelming in 2019, and perhaps Brady was sick of carrying the offense along with him for years.
It is not much of a surprise opposing executives are skeptical of the situation, especially after ESPN's Seth Wickersham detailed years of tension between Brady and the organization.
But in spite of Brady's departure, there is also a sense Pats head coach Bill Belichick was comfortable moving on from Brady. In that respect, perhaps “blame” is the wrong word when talking about the loss of the best player in franchise history.
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