On Friday, ESPN offered up its take on the current atmosphere in Foxboro. The upshot of the Seth Wickersham story is that -- after 18 years together -- there’s friction between Bill Belichick, Tom Brady and Robert Kraft.
The story cites tension over Alex Guerrero and an assertion that Belichick was given a “mandate” by Kraft to trade Jimmy Garoppolo after Brady met with Kraft multiple times to talk about playing into his mid-40s. Additionally, Brady is reportedly weary of Belichick’s “cold coaching style.”
Their conclusion is that this may be the trio’s last year together. The impending doom ESPN is forecasting feels forced.
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News that the story would be posted in the morning was first reported by Bruce Allen from Boston Sports Media Watch .
I wrote a similar story last Friday because, after talking to sources on all sides of various issues, I sensed uneasiness over simmering tensions and uncertainty about the future. This bit of palace intrigue that’s developed is, in my opinion, an outgrowth of three things.
New England Patriots
-- First, nobody knows what Belichick is thinking -- including his players, staff and bosses -- because he isn’t real loose with the lips. What’s Bill thinking? Nobody knows. So speculation fills the void. Some of it may be informed. Some of it may be deduced. Some of it may come from people he knows well. But when speculation gets traction and there’s no pushback, it soon becomes fact.
-- Second, the Patriots are the most compelling team in American sports. It’s not even close. Between the run of success, the rarefied air Belichick and Brady occupy, Kraft’s role as one of the NFL’s leading owners, the controversies (contrived and otherwise) that have cropped up over 18 seasons and the relative banality around the rest of the country’s favorite sport, they are a golden content goose.
-- Finally, it really is the end of days. Even as the Patriots push toward what would be their third Super Bowl appearance in four seasons, the specter of a post-Belichick, post-Brady NFL bears down. Love them or hate them, nobody wants to miss the end. Everyone will want to know why it ended.
Here -- in easy-to-digest format -- are the things I’ve learned and been told about where things are right now with the Patriots.
No mandate
I was told more than once that Robert Kraft didn't tell Bill Belichick he wasn’t allowed to trade or release Tom Brady. However, I was also told that if Belichick had brought it up, he would have been discouraged from doing so. So either a) the conversation never happened but Belichick knew which way the wind was blowing and moved Garoppolo, or b) the conversation did happen and I’m being misled. Third option, the one nobody gives any credence to? The Patriots couldn’t figure a way to work it out. In his press conference after trading Garoppolo, Belichick said, “It’s just not sustainable given the way that things are set up. It’s definitely not something we wanted to walk away from and I felt like we rode it out as long as we could. We over a period of time explored every option possible to sustain it but just at this point felt like we had to make a decision. It’s a very complex situation on multiple levels and this is really the last window we had.”
That last bit -- “a very complex situation on multiple levels” -- I’m taking as Belichick’s acknowledgment of the Brady Conundrum. You have the best quarterback in league history playing at an MVP level and he, more than any other player, has ensured your place in the American sports pantheon (as you did for him). And he’s a regional deity. And the owner is sentimental. So you can’t trade him. It’s not like you're stuck with Elvis Grbac. It’s Brady.
The whispers are . . .
There are people within the Patriots organization who believe Belichick got bigfooted by Kraft on this and are proceeding under the assumption that Belichick may be so miffed that he’ll leave. They also believe the Patriots made a mistake gambling that Brady will be able to produce for as long as he thinks while moving on from the obviously-gifted Garoppolo.
No offer to Garoppolo
The Patriots never extended a new contract offer to Garoppolo. No question they discussed it and spitballed about what it would look like -- great pay as a backup escalating to starter money when Brady left -- but the offer was never formalized. Why? Because it was clear Garoppolo wasn’t staying another year as a backup. The Patriots had no workable solution for solving a win-win problem (the greatest ever or a future franchise QB) that would have kept them both here.
Same as always
Brady and Belichick’s relationship is strictly business. As I was told, if someone looked at it from the outside and saw them interacting, they may think there was a coolness between them. But that’s not remarkable. It’s always been that way.
No changes
Expect both Belichick and Brady to be with the Patriots when the 2018 season starts. Brady isn’t going anywhere. And, regardless of how pissed Belichick may or may not be (and I think he’d probably be more exasperated than pissed), walking away in a huff from something he began building 18 years ago would be rash. Belichick doesn’t really do rash.