Something had to give: Here’s the real reason why Tom Brady left Belichick in New England

All good things must come to an end, and the New England Patriots dynasty is no different.

On Monday, Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady explained in his weekly newsletter why he and ex-coach Bill Belichick ultimately parted ways in 2020, ending the greatest NFL dynasty of all-time.

Apparently, the “tension” had reached a point where New England was no longer big enough for the two all-timers despite all the great things they accomplished together.

“For me, it was a creeping decision that lived passively in the back of mind for 2-3 years until March of 2020 when a whirlwind of a few days made me realize that a decision was coming sooner rather than later,” Brady posted to his website, reflecting on his sole free agency experience. “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. It was the kind of tension that could only be resolved by some kind of split or one of us reassessing our priorities.”

However, Brady did not take the decision lightly. He built a weighted scale to evaluate whether to return to New England for his 21st year, or chase seemingly greener pastures in Tampa Bay, led by a less combative head coach.

“What I ended up with was a list of about twenty things that I then ranked and graded on a weighted scale from 1 to 3,” Brady wrote. “The presence of skill players was a 3 in terms of importance, for example, and the Bucs graded out as a 3 because of guys like Mike Evans and Chris Godwin The same was true for the head coach. That was a 3 in importance, and Tampa scored a 3 with Bruce Arians. Game day weather was a 2, practice weather was a 3. Financial compensation was on the list, obviously, but it wasn’t first, it probably wasn’t even top 10, and it definitely didn’t rank as a 3 in importance. In the end, I chose Tampa, almost exactly five years ago now, because, in the aggregate, it graded out higher than New England along those twenty or so dimensions.”

The names Belichick and Brady will always be synonymous following the six Super Bowl titles the coach-quarterback tandem won side-by-side in New England with the Patriots. That said, their relationship was contentious, and everyone around the pair could feel it.

Belichick and Brady are competitive, and like Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant for instance, compete for the larger legacy and perceived share of influence on their dynasty, which brings out the best (and sometimes worst) in them.

Prior to coaching Brady, Belichick snagged two Super Bowl rings as defensive coordinator of the New York Giants under Bill Parcels in 1987 and 1991, while Brady became the first of the two to win a Super Bowl — as quarterback of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2021 — since they parted ways in 2020.

Todderick Hunt covers Sports and Culture. Do you have a story idea or a tip? He can be reached at thunt@njadvancemedia.com.