If there’s one person who should feel hurt about how this offseason has played out, it’s Bill Belichick. Well, honestly it’s Julian Edelman. But past that, it’s Belichick. Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski are Buccaneers. But Belichick won’t bother feeling sorry for himself. In fact, the New England Patriots coach probably respects what his two former stars did to become his former stars.
Belichick would never hate the player and he definitely doesn’t hate the game. There probably aren’t hard feelings — at least not from Belichick. He probably respects Brady and Gronk for treating the situation with conniving ambition — the same quality Belichick has exhibited for years. It’s just business, after all. Belichick lives that motto better than anyone.
The Tompa Bay Gronkaneers probably wouldn’t have happened if Belichick hadn’t tried to trade Brady and Gronk at different points in the past few years. Belichick was interested in dealing Brady in 2017, according to Bleacher Report’s Matt Miller. When owner Robert Kraft intervened, the Patriots coach instead traded Jimmy Garoppolo to the San Francisco 49ers, according to ESPN. Similarly, Belichick had a deal in place to send Gronk to the Lions in 2018, ESPN reported. The haul would have been huge. But much like Brady, Gronk applied the leverage that he had. The tight end threatened to retire rather than play for a team not quarterbacked by Brady.
Has Belichick ever failed to part ways with a superstar at the exact moment he wanted prior to Brady and Gronk? Randy Moss, Wes Welker, Lawyer Milloy, Adalius Thomas, Jamie Collins, Deion Branch, Mike Vrabel, Adam Vinatieri, Chandler Jones, Logan Mankins and Aqib Talib were all shipped out of Foxborough or allowed to leave. Belichick disposed of them when he was finished — and in some cases, when he wanted them back, they returned. (Surely, that’s possible for Brady and/or Gronk, too.)
But Gronk and Brady were different. They dictated the terms as best they could. And it was better than any player before them. For the most part, they beat Belichick at his own game.
It wasn’t a total victory, though. To a degree, Brady probably wanted to return to New England. He wouldn’t have waited until a few days into free agency to decide on Tampa Bay if he weren’t holding out hope Belichick would make a respectable offer. When that offer didn’t come, Brady didn’t bother playing the game where he would see what he could get in free agency before asking the Patriots to match — a game Belichick asked Nate Solder, Dont’a Hightower, Matthew Slater and Devin McCourty to play in years past. Brady probably felt he was above that.
When Brady announced he was leaving the Patriots, he didn’t say where he was going. Perhaps he didn’t even know where he was going. He just knew he wasn’t going back to New England. With Gronk, it was extremely similar. If he had to play for the Patriots, he’d rather stay retired. But the Buccaneers? He’s in. He’s back. He’s energized.
Again, that must sting for Belichick. But again, he respects what they have and he doesn’t: leverage. Gronk forced Belichick into what is likely to be a losing trade: a fourth-round pick in exchange for Gronk and a seventh-round selection. The Bucs had two fourth-round picks — they gave the Patriots the lower one. Why such a small return on Gronk? Because if Gronk unretired, his contract, which had one year remaining, would have put New England over the salary cap. They would have been forced to trade or release him. Belichick was basically powerless. He had to trade Gronk’s rights. Brady convinced Gronk to come out of retirement. The tight end obliged.
It was a string of ruthless tactics. Brady got, for the most part, exactly what he wanted. And Gronk did, too. Manipulation of the circumstances was what Belichick has long done so well. This time, Gronk and Brady figured out to get the upper hand. They had learned from the best.
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