Tom Brady admits ‘tension’ with Bill Belichick pushed him to leave Patriots

Tom Brady has finally acknowledged the “tension” that had built up between him and Bill Belichick over half a decade ago.

Brady wrote on the topic of NFL free agency in the most recent update of his weekly newsletter. Brady, now an announcer at FOX, shared that he was mandated to study where each free agent ends in preparation for his second season in the broadcast booth.

The exercise led to Brady reflecting on his own free agency in 2020. Brady famously left the New England Patriots to sign with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, ending his 20-year run in Foxborough. Several reporters pointed to a growing rift between Belichick and Brady as a major reason for the latter’s departure.

In the newsletter, Brady confirmed that indeed was the case.

“The reality was, after twenty years together, a natural tension had developed between where Coach Belichick and I were headed in our careers, and where the Patriots were moving as a franchise,” wrote Brady. “It was the kind of tension that could only be resolved by some kind of split or one of us reassessing our priorities.”

Brady called his desire to move a “creeping decision that lived passively in the back of mind for 2-3 years” before making his decision to leave in 2020.

Brady said he had created a weighted ranking with several categories to assess his potential landing spots. The categories ranged from the presence of skill players to weather during game days. The Bucs graded higher than the Patriots, which confirmed Brady’s decision to move five years ago.

Based on the seventh Super Bowl ring sitting in Brady’s trophy cabinet, whatever metrics he used turned out to be spot on.