Jacoby Brissett Discusses Being Traded Shadily by Patriots in 2017
Even if an NFL player plays well, that doesn't guarantee them a spot on a roster. That was the case with quarterback Jacoby Brissett in 2017 when he played for the New England Patriots.
That year, Brissett was on a depth chart that included Tom Brady and Jimmy Garoppolo. To retain talent at other positions, New England needed to get rid of one of their quarterbacks, which made Brissett the odd man out. Because of that, the Patriots traded him in early September to the Indianapolis Colts in exchange for wideout Phillip Dorsett.
Brissett discussed the day he found out he got traded during a conversation with Devin and Jason McCourty on the "Double Coverage" podcast recently, and described a scenario that he believed was "shady."
“It was after the last preseason game, and the bad thing was I balled (in that game). I was like, ‘I know I’m making the team. It’s going to be hard for them to cut me.’ I really felt like I played my best game at that point, and I was playing my best football at that time throughout training camp and stuff,” Brissett said, as transcribed by NESN’s Zack Cox. “I think Bill (Belichick) did some shady shit. I think they traded me right before practice and still made me go out there and practice. I just remember I was walking back into the facility from the field, and it just seemed like that was the first time the facility was — there was just no activity going on. It just seemed silent.”
Brissett then described how it played out following practice that day.
“We always walk through the cafeteria first to get a smoothie, and (team nutritionist Ted Harper) called me into his office. Damn, I hope I didn’t get Ted fired. Ted called me into the office and was like, ‘You know about this?’ And I’m like, ‘What?’ How the hell am I supposed to know? I don’t have my phone on me. And I’m walking down the hall, and everybody’s just staring at me like I just committed a crime or something. I walk into the locker room, and (Dont’a) Hightower’s locker is right there. Hightower, you know his country ass. (He’s like), ‘Damn, bro.’ (Laughs.) I’m like, ‘Damn, Hightower, there ain’t no sense of confidence?’ And then I’m looking at my locker and Tom (Brady) is just sitting there with his head in his phone, and I’m like, ‘Damn, I hope that ain’t about me.'”
“It was just crazy, man. My body was just frozen. I went and talked to Bill, and I didn’t even hear a word he said. In my head, I was like, I don’t even know what traded means. Is that right now? And then as soon as I walked out the room, they were like, yeah, we’ve got to get you on a flight tonight because you might have to play in the game this Sunday. And I’m like, ‘What?’ I was like, ‘Hell no, I don’t even want to play yet. I don’t know where I’m going.’ But I just remember you (Devin McCourty) texted me and Slate (Matthew Slater) texted me. He was like, ‘Man, listen. You’re about to walk into some crazy times, but you’re built for this, and it’s part of the NFL.’ Honestly, that was my wake-up to the NFL … being traded and then the next week, you’re out there in a game. It was like, ‘We don’t care how long you’ve been here. You’d better know how to play.'”
The NFL is a cold business. But dealing with Bill Belichick can be ice cold.
