Tom Brady Is Making Bill Belichick Look Foolish

Bill Belichick did not have a plan to replace Tom Brady. That was never more apparent than it was Sunday, when the Brady-led Tampa Bay Buccaneers put up 45 points on the Las Vegas Raiders, while Jimmy Garoppolo and the San Francisco 49ers handed Belichick the worst home loss of his career as coach of the New England Patriots.

It’s important to remember that Belichick seemingly never wanted to trade Garoppolo. The Patriots dealt Garoppolo to the 49ers in October 2017, curiously only receiving one second-round pick in return. The Cleveland Browns were prepared to offer a first-round pick for Garoppolo, the Cleveland Plain-Dealer reported at the time, but Belichick apparently didn’t shop Garoppolo.

The story goes like this, according to ESPN’s Seth Wickersham: Patriots owner Robert Kraft told Belichick to trade Garoppolo, because the team wasn’t going to move on from Brady. Belichick was “furious” and “demoralized,” friends told Wickersham. Then one day in October, Belichick texted San Francisco head coach Kyle Shanahan, for whom he holds great respect. Belichick offered Garoppolo for a second-round pick, and the deal was finalized.

The Patriots made two straight Super Bowls following the Garoppolo trade, with Brady throwing for a record-setting 505 yards in Super Bowl LII against the Philadelphia Eagles and defeating the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LIII with a game-winning touchdown drive. Brady faltered last season with an underwhelming receiving corps, and the Tennessee Titans bested the Patriots in the Wild Card Round.

Belichick rode it out with Brady, but never signed him to a long-term extension, and even agreed to a clause in his contract that wouldn’t allow the team to franchise him. Then this offseason, Belichick didn’t make much of an apparent effort to retain Brady. The two only connected for one unproductive phone call, according to NBC Sports Boston’s Tom Curran. On the Monday before free agency, Brady visited Kraft at his home to share the news of his impending departure.

Later in the week, he inked a two-year, $50 million deal with the Buccaneers.

Belichick’s penchant for adaptation is one of the reasons why he’s the greatest head coach in NFL history. He’s always reinventing himself, and changing with the times. But that wasn’t the case when it came to Brady. Belichick and Brady famously feuded in his final years with the Patriots, with Belichick even curtailing the access of Brady’s personal guru and TB12 business partner Alex Guerrero. And the relationship was seemingly never repaired, even when it was clear the Patriots didn’t have an heir apparent.

New England drafted Jarrett Stidham in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft, but the coaching staff doesn’t appear to think he’s ready. The Patriots signed Cam Newton to an incentive-laden deal at the end of June, and have stuck with him this season, even as he’s struggled mightily. Stidham did not make an appearance in Sunday’s 33-6 loss until there was 13:20 remaining in the fourth quarter, despite Newton throwing for just 98 yards and three interceptions.

In his three games since testing positive for Covid-19, Newton has thrown for one touchdown and six interceptions.

Meanwhile, Brady continues to light it up with the Buccaneers, passing for 369 yards and four touchdowns in Tampa Bay’s 45-20 demolition of the Raiders Sunday. He connected with Rob Gronkowski for their 92nd touchdown (tying Steve Young and Jerry Rice for second all-time) and threw a 33-yard dime to Scotty Miller. Perhaps Brady’s most impressive throw came with 7:22 remaining in the fourth quarter, when he rolled right and fired a strike to Chris Godwin in the corner of the end zone.

Brady isn’t just throwing the football with great authority. He looks mobile.

Obviously, Brady has a much better set of weapons than he did last season, and his group only promises to get better, with the reported signing of Antonio Brown. The troubled and ultra-talented wideout was with the Patriots for one game last season; the team released him amid allegations of sexual assault (Brown is currently serving an eight-game suspension for multiple violations of the personal conduct policy, including alleged sexual assault).

The Patriots were right to cut ties with Brown last season. A sexual assault lawsuit against him is still pending, and set to go to trial in December.

But it was shameful for the Patriots to not acquire more offensive talent last season, and irresponsible to let Brady walk without any successor. Newton is stuck with the same sorry group of pass-catchers, too. They aren’t helping his cause.

Even if Belichick eventually wants to entrust Stidham with the job, he needed another option for this season, which is why he signed Newton. On Sunday, Belichick affirmed Newton was still the undisputed starter, despite his recent woeful play.

The only thing the Patriots saved swapping Newton for Brady was money. But they did it at the cost of wins and perhaps another championship run — or two. Belichick might have been pining for Garoppolo to quarterback his team Sunday instead of the 49ers. But that’s not an excuse for failing to come up with an alternative plan. The Patriots traded Garoppolo three years ago.

Belichick has seemingly been prepared for everything in his 20 years with the Patriots. Except when it came to his biggest decision: when to move on from Brady.

Now the Patriots are two games below .500, and Brady is flourishing. Every Brady touchdown makes Belichick look more foolish.


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