Tom Brady: 'Tension' With Bill Belichick Could Only Be Resolved With Split

The relationship between Bill Belichick and Tom Brady wasn't completely broken, but it was badly bruised for several years before the spring of 2020 when the future Hall of Fame quarterback decided to leave the New England Patriots in free agency for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

We've been told this for a while, dating all the way back to that 2021 meeting between Brady's Buccaneers and Belichick's Patriots – a seismic match between the NFL's most successful quarterback and coach that ended in an interesting airing of dirty laundry between the two.

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Brady Sheds Light On Relationship

But for the first time since the split, we're getting confirmation of a rift between the men from one of the parties involved.

Brady on Monday shared his thoughts on 2025 NFL free agency on his website and added details of what led to his only taste of the free agency process in 2020.

"For me, it was a creeping decision that lived passively in the back of my mind for 2-3 years until March of 2020, when a whirlwind of a few days made me realize that a decision was coming sooner rather than later," Brady writes. "The reality was, after twenty years together, a natural tension had developed between where coach Belichick and I were headed in our careers, and where the Patriots were moving as a franchise. 

"It was the kind of tension that could only be resolved by some kind of split or one of us reassessing our priorities."

Brady ultimately decided he was better off with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Buccaneers Won Brady Derby

"When Tampa Bay came into the picture as a serious option for me, all I did over those few days in March was assess and reassess my priorities," Brady continued. "I asked myself, as someone headed into their forties with school-age kids and twenty years worth of battle scars, what truly mattered to me now?

"What I ended up with was a list of about twenty things that I then ranked and graded on a weighted scale from 1 to 3. The presence of skill players was a 3 in terms of importance, for example, and the Bucs graded out as a 3 because of guys like Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. 

"The same was true for the head coach. That was a 3 in importance, and Tampa scored a 3 with Bruce Arians. Game day weather was a 2, practice weather was a 3. Financial compensation was on the list, obviously, but it wasn’t first, it probably wasn’t even top 10, and it definitely didn’t rank as a 3 in importance."

Great. But back to the greater point:

There was "tension" between where Brady and Belichick were headed in their careers?

FOXBOROUGH, MA - NOVEMBER 24: Tom Brady #12 talks to head coach Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots before a game against the Dallas Cowboys at Gillette Stadium on November 24, 2019 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)

Brady Great After Leaving The Patriots

This was a topic of discussion for years, primarily after the 2019 season, because it was weird that a coach who wanted to win and a quarterback who wanted to win couldn't let that agreement bind their frayed relationship.

But the truth is, Belichick started to believe Brady was diminished as he crept past his 40th birthday. And the coach treated him the same way he treated mortal players: By moving on a year early rather than a year too late.

That feeling was expressed to owner Robert Kraft. And Kraft, seeing those six Super Bowl trophies on his mantle, deferred to Belichick. So, Belichick increasingly treated Brady like a diminishing commodity.

The problem is, Belichick got it wrong.

Brady left and threw 40 touchdown passes his first season with the Bucs. Oh, yeah, and he won his seventh Super Bowl ring.

Patriots Dynasty Ended Post Brady

And then he led the NFL with 43 TD passes and 5,316 yards the next season.

The Patriots, meanwhile, watched their dynasty fade into history, and that eventually led to Belichick's ouster.

We know these facts. We knew there were issues between the fabled coach and quarterback.

Now we have it right from the tip of Brady's pen.