Count shutdown cornerback Stephon Gilmore among the present and former New England Patriots players that weren’t surprised when quarterback Tom Brady left the team to join the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
When speaking on the phone with ESPN’s Mike Reiss, Gilmore referred to playing football as a business in the NFL—a revolving door of guys coming and going. Anyone can play anywhere, including Brady.
“Not surprised,” said Gilmore. “A player like him, playing somewhere that long, you never can see it, but it shows you that in the National Football League it can be anyone going somewhere. It’s a business, and that’s how you have to look at it.”
The reigning Defensive Player of the Year speaks from experience after jumping ship from the Buffalo Bills to sign a five-year, $65 million deal with the Patriots in 2017. Of course, it still isn’t quite the same as ending a near 20-year marriage after winning six Super Bowls.
Not to mention the Patriots aren’t necessarily in a position to fill the void left by Brady. There are far too many maybes that would come with Jarrett Stidham as the starting quarterback, and the team already knows what it has in Brian Hoyer and Cody Kessler. Hoyer in particular is a quality backup, but he isn’t engineering the sort of game-winning drives necessary to keep the Patriots in the contender conversation.
Former Patriots linebacker Kyle Van Noy claimed he was mildly shocked by Brady opting to leave, but he also admitted he could “see the writing on the wall.”
It’s rare to see any star athlete finish their career in the same place they started, but there was hope the Patriots’ need for a bridge at quarterback would propel them to keep the dynasty rolling a couple years longer. Brady’s hope is to continue playing until the age of 45, and the championship-starved Buccaneers were willing to put up the money and talent to acquire his services. They believed in him when Patriots coach Bill Belichick couldn’t bring himself to make that sort of leap.
Championship aspirations have suddenly consumed a Buccaneers fan-base that has patiently waited for an opportunity to compete, while Belichick continues on with business as usual with the face of the franchise playing elsewhere.
Meanwhile, Patriots fans are left with the lasting memories from an epic run before tuning in on Sundays to see an amped up Tom Brady screaming “let’s go” on the sidelines in creamsicle colors.
What a time to be alive.