5. The Patriots seemed unprepared for the QB’s departure, and they’re likely to be worse in 2020
The Patriots didn’t have much cap space heading into this free agency. At the moment when they had to fight hardest to retain Brady, Belichick seemed to give up. Just before free agency, the coach re-signed Matthew Slater, Devin McCourty and Joe Thuney. That solidified leadership within the locker room, even the event Brady left. It also made it almost impossible for Brady to return, considering the Patriots were down to $5 million in cap space. It was a strange sequence of events.
So that leaves the team with a cast of quarterbacks that are definitely not Tom Brady: Jarrett Stidham, Brian Hoyer and Cody Kessler. Considering the Patriots have to play the AFC West and the NFC West in 2020, New England may end up battling to stay above .500.