Robert Kraft Essentially Admits He Chose Bill Belichick Over Tom Brady

Bill Belichick and Tom Brady set up the pillars of the Patriots dynasty. The New England Patriots made nine Super Bowl trips and won six titles in their time together. Belichick and Brady joined forces for the win, but Robert Kraft was left with one of them.

Numerous reports confirmed the tension between these two. The greatest quarterback of all time had to part ways with the greatest head coach of all time. Brady left the Patriots to join the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and won a title in his first season with the team.

So, what did really happen? Patriots owner Robert Kraft talked about Brady’s departure in the final episode of the Apple TV+ docuseries “The Dynasty.” It looks like he didn’t want to give up on Belichick in order to keep Brady.

“Regrets? Sure, I would have liked to have seen (Brady’s) seventh Super Bowl as a Patriot,” Kraft said in Episode 10. “Would Tom have remained if Bill departed as head coach? Yes, I feel pretty strongly about that.

“To be honest, I didn’t want to move on from either one, but the point is, keeping them together for 20 years, is the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my business career. Nothing is perfect in this world as much as we’d like it to be. This is life. That’s what happens, and how you deal with it and how you move on.”

Kraft moved on with Belichick, Brady is still a friend

Brady had to leave the team, but he made great memories in New England. He spent most of his season with the Patriots and has great words for the organization and everyone who worked with him. He is retired now and the Patriots are still trying to find their franchise quarterback.

“In the end, you look back, and seeing the whole journey, you know, it’s perfect. It doesn’t need to be any more than that,” Brady said. “I have unbreakable bonds with those people. I’ve been through it all with them.”

The Patriots lost Super Bowl LII to the Philadelphia Eagles. Kraft was frustrated and thought that Belichick is responsible for the mess. The Patriots did win Super Bowl LIII to fix the damage.

“After winning that Super Bowl, I thought what an amazing job our coaching staff did under the leadership of Bill,” Kraft recalled. “If I have a thought that Bill was losing it as a head coach and couldn’t perform, he had reestablished himself. At that point, Tommy understood Bill would be the head coach for a number of years moving forward.”