Patriots Owner Robert Kraft Keeps Trying To Spin Tom Brady’s Departure In His Favor

Robert Kraft wants everybody to know he really wishes Tom Brady could have stayed with the Patriots. If only, as owner of the team, he was in position to make it happen.

Shortly after Tom Brady officially announced his signing with the Buccaneers Friday, Kraft told his latest tale of woe to NFL Media’s Mike Giardi. “Think about loving your wife and for whatever reason, there’s something —- her father or mother — that makes life impossible for you,” Kraft said to Giardi. “You have to move on, but you don’t want to.”

Who could Kraft possibly be referring to, you ask? It’s not a secret the relationship between Bill Belichick and Brady turned sour in recent years, with TB12 reportedly tiring of Belichick’s austerity. ESPN’s Seth Wickersham came out with a bombshell expose about the crumbling partnership in January 2018, highlighting how Brady felt unappreciated in Foxboro, according to sources.

That offseason, Brady did little to suppress the endless speculation about his unhappiness. During one clip at the end of Brady’s Facebook Watch series, “Tom vs. Time,” his wife, supermodel Gisele Bundchen, says her husband just wants to feel appreciated at work. When interviewer Jim Gray asked Brady that spring whether he feels appreciated by the organization, the quarterback infamously opted to “plead the fifth.”

Before the Patriots’ Wild Card loss to the Titans Jan. 4, Kraft told NBC Sports’ Peter King he “hopes” and “prays” Brady remains with New England. Apparently, Kraft was comfortable leaving the most important decision in franchise history up to divine intervention, because he seemingly didn’t take a lead role in negotiations. Belichick was reportedly in charge of the Brady contract talks, and they didn’t go well. Belichick and Brady took part in just one unproductive phone call, according to NBC Sports Boston’s Tom Curran. In it, Belichick told Brady the team would only be willing to pay him less in 2020 than last season, WEEI’s Dale Arnold reports.

Given Belichick and Brady’s tumultuous recent history, it seems odd Kraft would cede over control to the Hoodie if he was determined to keep TB12. But that’s what he keeps telling reporters. In a statement to ESPN released less than one hour after Brady’s farewell social media post, Kraft said Brady came over his house Monday night and told him he wanted to leave. “Tommy initiated contact last night and came over,” Kraft said. “We had a positive, respectful discussion. It’s not the way I want it to end, but I want him to do what is in his best personal interest. After 20 years with us, he has earned that right. I love him like a son.”

To further prove it was Brady who wanted to end things — and not the Patriots — Kraft told the same story Tuesday to the New York Times. “My first choice was to keep him,” Kraft said. “If he wanted to be with us, we could have worked something out.”

From a football standpoint, Kraft probably made the right call leaving the final decision to Belichick. He’s entrusted football operations to Belichick for the last 20 years, and it has resulted in six Super Bowl rings. We will finally see if Belichick or Brady is most responsible for the Patriots’ greatness.

While fans would likely still be upset with that explanation, Belichick has earned a lot of goodwill himself over the last two decades. He sets prices on players and then moves on, regardless of sentimentality. He did not treat Brady any differently than the other greats whom he’s allowed to travel to the greener pastures of free agency.

It takes a special level of confidence to let the GOAT wander to those greener pastures, but Belichick does not seem to mind the public backlash. He understands the media can’t hurt you when you’re winning, and can’t help you when you’re losing. Ultimately, the decision to let Brady walk will be judged by wins and losses — not PR games.

Yet, Kraft appears intent to turn public sentiment in his favor. On Friday, NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport repeated the same strange drumbeat about how Brady never told the Patriots he wanted to return. Rapoport says the Patriots “likely could have” matched Tampa Bay’s two-year, $50 million offer if they knew Brady wished to come back.

Of course, that begs the question: why didn’t the Patriots lock up Brady when they had the opportunity? In each of the last two years, they failed to sign him to a long-term contract extension, despite his insistence on playing until his mid-40s.

The Patriots knew for a long time Brady wanted to continue playing into 2020. But when they had exclusive negotiation rights, they passed. Kraft may have “hoped” everything worked out this offseason, but he seemingly did little to make those dreams a reality.

Kraft’s actions speak louder than his words. If he truly wanted Brady to stay, he had a strange way of showing it.