Bill Belichick wasn’t getting into a discussion about Tom Brady. The New England Patriots coach treated Brady like just any other free agency departure on Monday.
Belichick has generally avoided answering questions about players not on his roster (with the exception of an upcoming opponent). So in the Patriots coach’s first meeting with reporters since the departure of Brady, Belichick avoided questions about the greatest quarterback of all time. The coach referred reporters back to his initial statement about Brady announcing he would be leaving New England.
“It would be, of course, impossible to sum up everything Tom did in 20 years then (in a statement) or now, but I meant everything I said about him and I’m sure we’ll be talking about him for years and decades to come,” Belichick said on a conference call Monday. “But right now, we’re moving forward and focused on the draft for this call. That’s really where our attention has been and where it will continue to be, is to make the best team in 2020.”
Belichick was asked if the Patriots had any desire to bring Brady back in free agency.
“I think that’s water under the bridge,” Belichick said. “We’re really focused on this season.”
And was Belichick surprised to see Brady leave?
“Again, I think we’ve covered all that,” Belichick said.
The conference call was staged as a pre-draft discussion, though reporters attempted to steer the conversation toward the biggest free-agent decision in the NFL: Brady to the Buccaneers. Belichick, meanwhile, veered back in the direction of the draft. That was how Belichick arrived upon the topic of building an offense around the next quarterback. It sounds like the Patriots offense — a.k.a. Brady’s offense — will undergo some changes in 2020, whether they’re starting a rookie, Brian Hoyer or Jarrett Stidham.
“Over the last two decades, everything we did, every decision we made in terms of planning is made with the idea of what’s best for Tom Brady,” Belichick said. “Whoever the quarterback is, we’ll try to make it — make things work smoothly and efficiently for that player. Try to take advantage of his skills.”
New England’s quarterbacks are Stidham, a 2019 fourth-round draft pick, and Hoyer, a journeyman backup who has two stints with the Patriots. Belichick was asked about Stidham’s progress, and the coach clearly didn’t want to say much about the youngster. But it sounds like the quarterback competition is wide open for 2020.
“To start with, we’ll give everyone a good chance to compete,” Belichick said.
If it takes place, training camp will take on an entirely different life in New England. No one would want fill Brady’s shoes. And yet you can bet Stidham, Hoyer and perhaps others will fight heartily for the job.
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