Tom Brady Assumed 2019 Would Be Last Season With Patriots
Tom Brady's first nationally broadcasted interview as a Tampa Bay Buccaneer was with Howard Stern on his Sirius XM Show Wednesday morning.
Along with many open and honest answers - which are things we didn't get a whole lot of from the QB when he was following the Patriot way - was Brady's admittance that he had a hunch after contract negotiations last summer that 2019 would be his last season in New England.
"I don't think there was a final, final decision until it happened, but I probably knew before last season that this would be my last season (in New England)," Brady said.
As mentioned by owner Robert Kraft before Brady made his final decision to leave the Patriots, the final contract the 42-year-old QB signed with New England last August was what Brady wanted, which in essence was to be a free agency in 2020. Brady was likely very aware of the finances that would hamper the Patriots once he became a free agent this past month and knew the kind of spending money they would have to sign him along with other free agents. Because of that, the writing seemed to have been on the wall that they couldn't give him everything he wanted, which included more offensive weapons.
As he said in his piece in The Players' Tribune which was published on Monday, "Playing for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is a change, a challenge, an opportunity to lead and collaborate, and also to be seen and heard." Based on what he had available to him in New England, Brady couldn't get those same things if he remained a Patriot moving forward.
