Here's Why Patriots Couldn't Retain Tom Brady

We are all sitting here wondering the same thing.

"How could the New England Patriots let Tom Brady get away?"

While financials and Brady's desire to play elsewhere in the NFL were strong factors in his ultimate decision to announce he would not be returning to the Patriots for the 2020 season, they weren't the only reasons his two-decade tenure in New England has come to a close.

So why were the Patriots not able to retain Brady? Well, according to multiple reports, Brady never approached New England to start negotiations, which is why the Patriots couldn't do anything. NFL Media's Ian Rapoport and NBC Sports' Tom E. Curran shed some light on the situation via Twitter.

The #Patriots stance was the same — what does Tom Brady want to do? Does he want to come back and is this where he think it’s the best place to win? When he never came back… that was where it stood. And Brady posted his goodbye.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 17, 2020

In the end, a tangible effort by the Patriots to keep Tom Brady in New England never happened. No negotiation. Just the intimation that it was on Brady to say what he wanted. For Brady, that stance spoke volumes.
— Tom E. Curran (@tomecurran) March 17, 2020

In the end, the Patriots were waiting to hear from Brady in regards to what he wanted from the six-time Super Bowl champions. But that never happened, which is why negotiations didn't take place. Since New England didn't want to approach Brady to start the negotiations, that said enough to the future Hall of Fame QB. Brady clearly wasn't happy with his situation in New England, and wasn't going to wait around to hear about assurances as to what they could do this offseason to make Brady happy.

With a business-first head coach, lots of questions on both sides of the football, and little money to work with this offseason to add extra talent, let alone having the money to give Brady a strong contract, the Patriots weren't going to give the veteran QB what he wanted. So, Brady will now continue to test the market and explore his options as he tries to figure out where the next chapter of his career will take place.