Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, New England Patriots. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
With NFL free agency starting on March 18, a phone call between New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and coach Bill Belichick wasn’t a happy one.
According to Karen Guregian of the Boston Herald, Tom Brady and Bill Belichick spoke over the phone on Tuesday. The conversation didn’t go well.
Belichick doesn’t seem the type of coach who would be nice and warm to any player hitting the market. That also includes Brady, which likely didn’t sit well with the future first-ballot Hall of Famer.
The 42-year-old will become a free agent for the first time in his career come March 18, when the new league calendar flips over. That doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll sign with a new team, but having a poor dialogue with the de facto boss isn’t a good sign.
Should Brady decide to leave Foxborough for a new challenge, multiple teams are interested in his services. The latest rumor that seems to be picking up steam involves the San Francisco 49ers. Brady going home to the Bay area would seem too good to be true. Other suitors for the quarterback include the Los Angeles Chargers, Tennessee Titans, Las Vegas Raiders, Indianapolis Colts and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Despite an 8-0 start to last season, the Patriots offense fell flat. Opposing defenses managed to hold it under 20 points in the last four games of the season. Without Rob Gronkowski, and the one-game tenure of Antonino Brown, Brady’s only true throwing target was Julian Edelman. The six-time Super Bowl champion put up a productive year with 4,057 passing yards, but his 24 touchdowns were the lowest since 2006.
There will be a lot to hammer out once March 18 hits. For now, we can only follow the flow of news, and the latest trickle is a bad one for the Patriots.