Tom Brady is a celebrated athlete with multiple Super Bowl wins under his belt.
Most of those wins came during his time with the New England Patriots.
Since Brady had spent his entire career playing for the Patriots, many fans couldn’t believe the news that he had chosen to play for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers instead.
Although the choice seems to have favored him, as he won a Super Bowl with his new team, many still wonder what prompted him to leave his home team in the first place.
Here’s what you need to know about why Tom Brady left the Patriots.
Why Did Tom Brady Leave The New England Patriots?
Tom Brady left the Patriots because the two parties couldn’t agree on Brady’s contract.
Several other factors likely led to Brady’s choice to leave.
Here are some reasons why Tom Brady left the Patriots.
1. Coach Belichick
When Brady first joined the Patriots, he was playing under Coach Bill Belichick.
Belichick had just replaced Pete Carroll who had only coached for three years.
The team was looking to change some things to start putting together a team that would find success during the playoffs.
Brady was not the first pick for the New England Patriots.
His scouting performance coming out of college wasn’t great.
As such, he was the 199th overall pick in the sixth round of the NFL Draft in 2000.
The Patriots had also selected seven other quarterbacks during that time.
Eventually, Brady proved himself and soon became the starting quarterback for the team.
He’s attributed to having started 362 games which is currently the record for most games started as a quarterback.
He played 20 seasons with the Patriots and won six Super Bowls while he played for them.
Despite his ability to get his team to the playoffs, there was reportedly some friction between him and Coach Belichick.
Belichick has a reputation for treating all his players the same.
Because of that, Brady found himself unable to convince Belichick to extend his contract.
Instead, Belichick wanted to keep his options open.
He prefers to replace players as they become less productive on the field rather than agree to a lengthy contract in which they’re stuck with a player who can’t compete as well.
He’s more interested in winning than in playing favorites.
Brady, who is responsible for helping the team receive as many Superbowl wins as it has, likely felt as though Belichick betrayed him by not sticking up for him when it came to negotiations.
There is also some friction between them based on how they treated one another.
While they saw eye-to-eye on the field, their relationship wasn’t that great off of the field.
Tom Brady’s poor relationship with Coach Belichick is one of the reasons he chose to leave the Patriots.
2. Unheard Opinions
With several years under his belt and many wins, there’s no question that Brady has a few ideas on how to make a winning team.
The problem is that no one in the Patriots’ leadership wanted to listen to him.
Coach Belichick, in particular, wasn’t interested in listening to Brady’s opinions on changes the team needed to make.
In particular, Brady voiced several changes he would like to make during training.
The leadership overlooked those opinions and continued to train in the same ways they always had.
Understandably, someone who has a lot of experience playing the game might feel irritated when their opinions don’t carry a lot of weight.
Being unable to share his opinions in an impactful way is also a reason Tom Brady left the Patriots.
3. Business Venture
One of the reasons that may have caused some strife among the Patriots’ leadership was Brady’s decision to promote his own private business venture.
Following the team’s fifth Super Bowl win, Brady started to push his own business called TB12 Sports.
He was also releasing a book at the time called The TB12 Method.
In the book, he had collaborated with fitness trainer, Alex Guerrero.
The book illustrated new training methods that teams could use to better prepare themselves for the season.
Belichick had already caused some problems with Guerrero by not letting him train the team as much as others.
The leadership of the Patriots did not appreciate Brady promoting his business instead of focusing only on promoting the team.
Not being able to advertise his own business despite helping the franchise become one of the most beloved ones in the NFL probably left a sour taste in Brady’s mouth.
It was likely one of the factors which led the Patriots to decline Brady’s new contract requirements.
The TB12 Method: How to Achieve a Lifetime of Sustained Peak Performance
4. Scandals
The Patriots have seen their share of scandals during Brady’s career, too.
One of the most famous is “Deflategate,” in which the Patriots played with a slightly deflated ball which made it easier to throw and catch.
Many upset fans believed that the Patriots had deliberately deflated the ball to give the team an edge.
Ultimately, the franchise chose to let Brady take the fall.
Neither Belichick nor anyone else in the franchise supported him or tried to correct the accusation.
While Brady may have forgiven them for this slight, another scandal occurred later which resulted in the same thing.
This scandal, called “Spygate,” involved the discovery of the Patriots taping the New York Jets.
In particular, they were taping the defensive coach’s hand movements to indicate instructions.
While the NFL does allow taping in certain circumstances, this particular instance broke the rules.
Coach Belichick received a $500,000 fine for his involvement.
This fine was the largest that the league could legally give, and it’s the most a head coach has ever had to pay in the league’s history.
Belichick also admitted that this was a practice that the Patriots had done in the past, but he denied certain specific cases.
This second scandal also placed Brady in a poor light, and he found himself having to support Belichick despite the scandal.
When Belichick refused to support him in return, it only made it clear where Brady stood regarding Belichick’s feelings about his players.
One of the reasons Brady left the Patriots is that he didn’t feel he was being supported even though he supported the franchise during their scandals.
5. Retirement
A final reason Brady left the Patriots was that the franchise refused to sign him for the number of years that he wanted to play.
Brady had planned to retire with the Patriots.
He had wanted to extend his contract to a set number of years.
Once those years were over, he was going to retire from the NFL.
The Patriots didn’t want to sign that long of an extension.
They had a concern that, as Brady grew older, he wouldn’t perform as well.
As a result, they’d find themselves with an older player who couldn’t compete.
They’d lose, and it could result in the loss of support from the franchise’s fans if not their investors.
Since they were unable to agree on the length of time set on the contract, the Patriots released Brady.
He ended up signing up with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who were more willing to offer him the kind of contract that he wanted.
That resulted in a Super Bowl win with Brady at the helm.
Brady left the Patriots because the franchise refused to offer him a contract that would have let him retire with the team.
When Did Tom Brady Join The Buccaneers?
Tom Brady joined the Buccaneers on March 20th, 2020.
He was 42 years old at the time and had played 20 seasons for the Patriots.
He announced his choice to join the Buccaneers in an Instagram post.
In that post, he described himself as excited to join the team but also humble.
He was equally hungry to prove himself to his new team since no one cares what had happened in the year prior in football.
Brady made the announcement three days after he announced that he wasn’t returning to the Patriots.
His contract with the Buccaneers is for two years.
They agreed to pay him $30 million per season.
How Many Super Bowls Did Tom Brady Win With The Patriots?
Tom Brady won six Super Bowl championships with the Patriots.
The first came in 2001.
That win was the start of a long dynasty of wins for the New England Patriots.
They’d follow their 2001 win with other wins in 2003 and 2004.
It wouldn’t be until 2014 when they won their next Super Bowl.
That said, the previous years, they had also played in the Super Bowl, but they couldn’t clinch a victory.
The final two Super Bowls Brady would win with the Patriots were in 2016 and 2018.
The 2016 win came during an intense overtime game.
The year 2019 would be a rough one for Brady.
Not only would it be one of his worst in his career, but the Patriots wouldn’t even make it to the Super Bowl to play and defend their title.
How Many Super Bowls Has Brady Won With The Buccaneers?
Brady joined the Buccaneers in 2020.
Despite that short time, he’s won one Super Bowl championship with the team.
That win came during the year in which he joined them.
The 2020 Super Bowl saw a Tampa Bay victory.
They easily took the title home with a final score of 31-9.
Considering that he only has a two-year contract with the Buccaneers, it’s still up in the air as to whether he’ll win them another Super Bowl in the 2021–2022 season.
(Editor’s note: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost their 2022 playoff bid to the Los Angeles Rams on January 23, 2022, scoring 27 points, while LA scored a field goal in the final seconds of the game to win with a total of 30.)
Is Tom Brady Retiring?
One of the biggest questions puzzling fans is whether or not Brady intends to retire.
Brady has repeatedly said that he wants to retire at the age of 45.
Considering he’s 44 years old now, that leaves many fans wondering if the 2021–2022 season is going to be the end of his career.
It also signals the end of his contract with the Buccaneers.
If Brady wants to continue to play, then he’ll need to revisit with the franchise leadership to determine how long his contract will extend.
Considering that Brady won them a Super Bowl shortly after joining, it’s likely that the franchise is eager to continue their relationship with Brady.
However, it will ultimately be down to Brady, himself, as to if he decides to hold to his promise of retiring at 45 or not.
According to one report, there’s been a lot of locker room talk as to whether Brady is going to retire or not.
Some believe signs are pointing to the end of his career.
Others don’t seem too sure.
Many think that Brady isn’t sure, himself.
If Brady does hold true to his promise of retiring at 45, then Buccaneer fans will likely have to say goodbye to him after the 2021–2022 season is over.
(Note: Brady has stated that his family’s needs will carry a lot of weight in his decision about retirement.)
What Is Tom Brady’s Net Worth?
Brady is one of the most famous NFL players in history.
Besides receiving the most Super Bowl rings than any other player in NFL history, he also has a sizable net worth.
Brady’s net worth is $250 million.
While that may be a staggering amount of money for many people, it’s not as much as what his wife has earned.
Brady’s wife, fashion model Gisele Bundchen, has a net worth of $400 million.
Brady received a humble amount of money when he first started with the Patriots.
By the end of his 20-year career with them, he had earned around $235 million.
That averages out to about $11.75 million every season.
That number has increased since joining the Buccaneers.
One of the stipulations of joining the team was that his pay would be $50 million a season.
He’d also receive $9 million in incentives.
The team agreed to the amount, and he received his pay.
However, after their Super Bowl win, the franchise and Brady negotiated the contract again.
The franchise didn’t have enough money to keep the team that had won together.
To help keep the team together, Brady ended up decreasing his own pay by $19 million.
That amount enabled the team to pay the other players and extend their contracts to keep everyone together for another win.
The franchise intends to repay him his lost income after the season is over, but if Brady intends to keep playing, then there’s a chance they might negotiate his contract again.
Brady’s primary income comes from playing in the NFL, but he has various business ventures, too, along with sponsorships.
What Were Tom Brady’s Stats With The New England Patriots?
During his time with the Patriots, Brady won six Super Bowl championships and received the Super Bowl MVP title four times.
During the 20 seasons he played with the Patriots, he got them to the playoffs 17 times.
Overall, Brady had a 64% completion rate with the Patriots.
Amid that rate, he had 58 game-winning drives.
He also started the game an astounding number of times.
He’s one of the most game-starting quarterbacks in NFL history.
During his time with the Patriots, Brady started as the quarterback in 283 games.
That number is only lessened because of the years he had to take off due to a knee injury.
Also, during his career as Patriot, Brady successfully passed 6,377 throws.
That said, he attempted 9,988 passes during his entire career with the Patriots.
Besides being able to throw the ball successfully, Brady also managed to cover a lot of yardage with his passes.
His Yards Gained by Passing total with the Patriots came out to be 74,571 yards.
One of the best things Brady has a reputation for is passing throws that end in a touchdown.
While he was with the Patriots, Brady completed 541 passes that ended in a touchdown.
One of the worst aspects of a quarterback’s career is the number of interceptions they end up throwing.
In Brady’s career with the New England Patriots, that number was only 179.
One final stat to consider during Brady’s time with the Patriots is the number of times the opposing team sacked him.
His record is 500 sacks.
Conclusion
Tom Brady helped catapult the New England Patriots into the successful franchise that it is today.
He devoted 20 years of his life to the franchise.
However, after problems figuring out his contract that would allow him to retire with the Patriots, the team ultimately decided to let him become a free agent.
In 2020, Tom Brady joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and led them to a Super Bowl win in the same season.
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