Bill Belichick Says Tom Brady Leaving Patriots Is ‘Water Under the Bridge’

Bill Belichick is in an unfamiliar spot in 2020. Tom Brady is no longer the quarterback of the New England Patriots as he signed a two-year contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. As soon as Brady announced he wasn’t returning to New England, Belichick released a statement that expressed how much Brady has meant to the organization in the last 20 years. However, reporters recently asked the Patriots head coach questions about Brady’s departure, and he has moved on to the 2020 season.

“Water under the bridge,” Belichick said, per Pro Football Talk. “We’re really focused on this season and trying to look at our opportunities and make decisions and plan and prepare to be as competitive as we can this year.” Belichick went on to talk about the current quarterbacks on the Patriots roster – Jarrett Stidham and Brian Hoyer. He said: “It’s an interesting group and probably one that has decent depth to it.”

There has been speculation about Belichick and Brady’s relationship deteriorating over the years. It was reported the two had a blowup about Brady’s contract in 2017, and when Brady was interviewed by Howard Stern last week, he said he knew the 2019 season would be his final year with the Patriots.

“Tom and I will always have a great relationship built on love, admiration, respect and appreciation,” Belichick said last month when Brady announced he was leaving New England. “Tom’s success as a player and his character as a person are exceptional. Nothing about the end of Tom’s Patriots career changes how unfathomably spectacular it was. With his relentless competitiveness and longevity, he earned everyone’s adoration and will be celebrated forever. It has been a privilege to coach Tom Brady for 20 years.”

Brady led the Patriots to nine Super Bowl appearances with six Super Bowl wins in his 19 seasons as a starter. However, the Patriots know what it’s like to not have Brady for an extended period of time. In 2008, Brady was out for the entire year due to a knee injury. The team missed the playoffs, but they finished the season with an 11-5 record. In 2016, Brady was suspended for the first four games of the season, and the team went 3-1 in his absence. That was also the year the team rallied back from a 28-3 deficit in the Super Bowl to beat the Atlanta Falcons.