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The most iconic athlete in Boston sports history is leaving New England. Quarterback Tom Brady announced on Twitter on Tuesday that his “football journey will take place elsewhere.” He’s leaving the New England Patriots and Bill Belichick.
It’s not yet clear where he’s going. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Los Angeles Chargers have inquired, per NFL Network.
“To all my teammates, coaches, executives and staff, Coach Belichick, RKK (Robert Kraft) and the Kraft family and the entire organization,” Brady wrote on Tuesday morning. “I wanted to say thank you for the past twenty years of my life and the daily commitment to winning and creating a winning culture built on great values. I am grateful for all that you taught me — I have learned from everyone. You have allowed me to maximize my potential and that is all a player can ask for.”
He will go down as the greatest Patriots player of all time and, perhaps, the greatest NFL player of all time – the G.O.A.T. He’ll likely be the last player to wear No. 12 for New England.
He finished his Patriots career with six Super Bowl wins, four Super Bowl MVPs, three NFL MVPs and 14 Pro Bowls. His six Super Bowl wins are the most by an NFL player. He won three of them in his final six seasons with the team. At 42 years old in 2019, he was also the oldest quarterback in NFL history to complete a full season. It seems he’ll push that record another year.
FOREVER A PATRIOT pic.twitter.com/QSBOJBs4uy
— Tom Brady (@TomBrady) March 17, 2020
On the career passing list, Brady is currently second in yardage (74,571), second in completions (6,377) and second in touchdowns (541). New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees leads all three categories.
New England has two quarterbacks on the roster: Jarrett Stidham and Cody Kessler. New England drafted Stidham, 23, in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft — he spent his rookie season as the team’s backup. Kessler, 26, joined the team midseason in 2019 and served as the third-stringer. The Patriots are his fourth NFL team since the Browns drafted him in the third round of the 2016 draft.
Of course, Bill Belichick will be thorough in pursuing all options at quarterback. The Patriots have the 23rd overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, when they could identify one of this year’s top college prospects. They could also look to free agency, where they might see Marcus Mariota, Ryan Tannehill and Philip Rivers, among others. And finally, there will be the trade market, where New England could pursue the Bengals’ Andy Dalton or the Panthers’ Cam Newton.
But replacing Brady will be the hardest thing Belichick has ever done.
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