Robert Kraft has expressed regret over the Patriots’ decision to let Tom Brady go, finally acknowledging the obvious mistake. Following the 2019 season, the Patriots had the opportunity to retain Brady, but instead, they allowed him to leave in free agency, largely influenced by Bill Belichick’s belief that Brady was past his prime.
As history unfolded, Brady not only joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers but also secured a Super Bowl victory in his first season with the team. Meanwhile, the Patriots struggled in the four seasons post-Brady, posting a dismal record of 29-38. The team hit a low point with a 4-13 record in 2023, leading to Belichick’s departure.
During the Patriots’ season opener in September, Kraft reportedly had a conversation with Tom Brady Sr., where he admitted that the team had indeed made the wrong decision in 2020 by letting Brady leave.
“He just said, ‘I made a mistake.’ He told us that back in September,” Brady Sr. revealed in a recent interview with the Boston Globe. “We don’t all make the right decisions, but he’s made a hell of a lot of good ones over the years. But I know that it galls him that Tommy went elsewhere and won. Not that he won, but that he won after Bill (Belichick) said he was done.”
It appears that the responsibility for letting Brady go lies squarely on Belichick. An ESPN story from mid-January reported that Kraft was quite upset after witnessing Brady win a Super Bowl with another team.
“Bill had told me he couldn’t play anymore, and then he goes out and wins the f—ing Super Bowl,” Kraft reportedly said in February 2021.
While Kraft had mostly kept his thoughts on Brady’s departure to himself, the Patriots owner seemed to want to address the issue during the team’s Week 1 tribute to the quarterback, admitting to Brady’s father that the decision was a mistake.
Despite winning six Super Bowls with Kraft as the owner, it is evident that the number might have been higher if the Patriots had retained Brady, a realization that Kraft now seems to acknowledge.
