Trouble was brewing between Tom Brady & Bill Belichick long before QB left New England

The dust has settled on Tom Brady leaving the New England Patriots for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. With Brady's Week 4 return to Foxborough, which resulted in a wild win for the Bucs, there has been more information revealed from the fallout between Brady and Belichick.

According to a book written by Seth Wickersham, regarding the Patriots dynasty, Brady and Belichick began butting heads with one another as far back as the 2019 season.

What happened between Brady and Belichick?

The book on the Patriots dynasty states that Brady nearly walked away from training camp after Belichick would not budge on Brady signing a new two-year contract. The contract set in place in 2019 would have been good for Brady to remain with the Patriots until he was 45 years old.

Belichick denied this, which is odd considering how many times Brady has taken pay cuts and been on a year-to-year basis to benefit the team. The disrespect could have likely been one of the reasons Brady left for the Bucs.

Even with Belichick's historically good defense, re-signing a quarterback in their 40s would be a cause of concern anyone. However, no one could have known that Brady would be playing at such a high level well into his 40s.

On top of taking the Bucs to the Super Bowl and winning in his first year with the team, Brady is currently leading the league in passing yards, yards per game, and passing touchdowns. Belichick has got to be kicking himself for not bending the rules (and contract) a bit for Brady's sake.

The relationship between Brady and Belichick was the primary story when Brady returned to Foxborough in Week 4. The two shared a quick and awkward hug after the game concluded.

Reports indicated that Belichick then spoke to Brady privately after the game. This is surely a conversation that will remain private, as is Belichick's style. That quick "good job" post-game moment was likely all that Belichick wanted reporters to see.

No one knows what was shared between the two behind closed doors, but maybe there was an apology involved?

That's not likely, but crazier things have happened.

Brady won the war as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are poised to hopefully return to the Super Bowl this season and have retained all of their starters from the 2020 season. Meanwhile, Belichick's Patriots have struggled since Cam Newton was beaten out of the starting job by rookie quarterback Mac Jones.

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