Since Tom Brady left the New England Patriots, the franchise has been stuck trying to reinvent itself and get back to Super Bowl contention.
Without Brady, the Patriots have cycled through multiple quarterbacks but are now poised to find their new franchise signal-caller in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Under head coach Jerod Mayo, New England is expected to move away from the infrastructure that former head coach Bill Belichick established during his 23 years there.
Belichick and Brady’s relationship fractured toward the end of their time together which eventually led to the latter bolting for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Brady went on to win one more Super Bowl championship while Belichick endured the worst stretch of his career as a head coach.
2019 was the final year Brady suited up for the Patriots and his backup Brian Hoyer revealed what he said to him before the season, via NBC Sports Boston.
“I remember one day Tom coming to me and being like, ‘Hey babe, just be ready to play the whole year,'” Hoyer said.
Brady was looking for a new deal from Belichick and spent most of the offseason haggling over details before they agreed to a deal for 2019.
However, Hoyer was taking starter reps during training camp which showed that there was a serious chance he would open as the 2019 starter over Brady.
It’s one of the NFL’s biggest what-ifs because Brady and Belichick would’ve likely won at least one more championship had things not deteriorated.
Regardless, New England can move on from both individuals and set itself on course to reinvent themselves.
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