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During the 2020 offseason, the biggest question in the NFL revolved around Tom Brady and what he was going to do. After 20 seasons with the Patriots, Brady was about to hit free agency for the first time in his career.
After playing out his contract with the Patriots, there was some who thought that Brady might end up re-signing in New England IF the team gave him a fair offer, but according to Brady, that was never going to happen.
In a 10-part documentary on the Patriots from Apple TV+, which is called “Dynasty,” Brady revealed that there was no way he was going to be returning to New England in 2020 under any circumstance. At the time, Brady felt that his relationship with Bill Belichick had gone too far south.
“Me and Coach Belichick, we did what we loved and competed for 20 years together,” Brady said in the documentary, via The Athletic. “But I wasn’t going to sign another contract (in New England) even if I wanted to play until (I was) 50. Based on how things had gone, I wasn’t going to sign up for more of it.”
The night before he made the announcement that he was leaving New England, Brady visited the home of Patriots owner Robert Kraft. Even if Kraft was hoping to talk Brady into staying, it wasn’t going to happen, because Brady had already made up his mind that he was going to leave.
This is something that Brady has never really publicly stated, although he did say during an interview in April 2020 that he “probably” knew that he had just played his final season with the Patriots.
“I probably knew before the start of last season that it was my last year,” Brady said. “I knew that our time was coming to an end.”
The problem for Brady is that Belichick wasn’t willing to make the financial commitment Brady wanted. Just before the start of the 2019 season, Brady got a two-year extension from the Patriots, but that deal was misleading. It slightly upped his salary for…
Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/tom-brady-clears-the-air-why-he-didnt-re-sign-with-patriots-after-making-surprising-exit-in-2020-offseason/
Author : John Breech
Publish date : 2024-02-16 18:52:39
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