Bill Belichick's blunt admission on Tom Brady leaving Patriots in 2020

Danny Jaillet, Patriots WireFri, May 22, 2026 at 5:50 PM UTC

12

Bill Belichick's blunt admission on Tom Brady leaving Patriots in 2020

Former New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick, the current head coach at the University of North Carolina, opened up about legendary quarterback Tom Brady's decision to leave the team for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in March 2020.

According to Belichick, Brady made the right decision.

The Patriots lost to the Tennessee Titans in the AFC Wild Card game the previous season, and the overall direction of the team wasn't in a good place at that time. Meanwhile, the Buccaneers had the pieces in place for Brady to go on another run in a different location.

“Tom leaving was absolutely the right thing for him to do," Belichick said, when appearing on Hangout With Sean Hannity. “We didn't have a good team in 2020. We just didn't have a good football team. We had all those guys that left—[Rob] Gronkowski and [Julian] Edelman. Most of our team was gone. [Devin] McCourty and a few others were still there, but they were about to go, too. We were just at the end.

Advertisement

“And honestly, I was happy for him that things worked out well for him in Tampa, because he was with a team ... and then he went on and won. That made me happy for him, because Tom—it wouldn't have gone well in 2020 in New England. On this, I can guarantee that.”

Brady went to the Buccaneers and won his seventh Super Bowl in his first year with the team.

The team continued to compete all the way up until Brady finally retired in 2023. No matter where the journey took Brady and Belichick, the two remain attached at the hip from all they accomplished in New England. Together, they created the greatest dynasty in NFL history.

Follow Patriots Wire on Twitter and Facebook.

This article originally appeared on Patriots Wire: Bill Belichick's blunt admission on Tom Brady leaving Patriots in 2020

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Sports”