Joe Montana doesn’t agree with Tom Brady’s move to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Brady spent 20 seasons with the New England Patriots and built his legacy as the greatest quarterback to ever play. The 42-year-old decided to do things differently in the 2020 season and signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in free agency.
Montana is one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play also, and he had a similar situation to Brady. Montana spent 13 seasons with the San Francisco 49ers and finished off his final two NFL seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs.
He was stunned by the decision and didn’t quite agree with it.
“I don’t know what’s going on inside there, but somebody made a mistake,” Montana said, via Jarrett Bell of USA Today Sports.
“I think when you look at the whole situation, you try to figure out how you want to get away from things that are there,” Montana continued. “I had a different story, where they had made a decision. He, obviously, they never would have gotten rid of. I still don’t understand how New England let him get away. I don’t understand that.”
Montana’s thought process on the situation in similar to many people in the NFL world. But, as many speculate, the rift between Bill Belichick and Brady might’ve became too much. Robert Kraft wanted nothing more than Brady to retire a Patriot, but Belichick is all business and doesn’t hold emotional attachments to players.
“It’s not about appreciation,” Montana said. “He wants control. I mean, he wants a lot of control. I don’t know what Tampa Bay gave him, but at some point in time, you’re just a player. You can try to get what you can and do what you want, but in the end, you’re still not in the hierarchy when it comes to hiring people, firing people and all that.
“I don’t know exactly what he’s looking for, but my understanding was that he’s just looking for more control of the offense. But I don’t know. I haven’t had a long conversation with him; I talked to him a little bit at the Super Bowl, but not enough time to really get in-depth.”
Brady now has an offense full of weapons in Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, O.J. Howard and more. He has an experienced head coach in Bruce Arians, and it’s very likely the Buccaneers gave him the control he desired.
He’ll be 43-years-old at the start of the 2020 season and he still feels as if he something to prove. Montana and many other people may not agree with the move, but Brady’s gone now and his future in Tampa Bay will be extremely interesting.
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