Tom Brady’s illustrious New England Patriots career ended on a sour note. The legendary quarterback’s last pass with the team was intercepted, a fitting finish to a 2019 season remembered more for what happened off the field than on it.
Brady wanted a two-year, $50 million contract from the Patriots ahead of the 2019 campaign, according to our Tom E. Curran. His contract situation added to the rift between him and then-Pats head coach/general manager Bill Belichick, so much so that he apparently told fellow QB Brian Hoyer to prepare to play the entire season.
Although the tumultuous 2019 season was largely skipped over in Apple TV+’s Patriots docuseries, “The Dynasty,” it’s an important year to look back on as it ultimately sealed Brady’s decision to leave the organization. On Friday’s “The Dynastic Post Show” Hoyer shared the details of his memorable encounter with Brady.
“I remember one day Tom coming to me and being like, “Hey babe, just be ready to play the whole year.’ And I remember being like, ‘What happened? Did you get hurt? What’s going on?’ And he said, ‘I just want to prepare you,’ and he kind of left it at that.
“I don’t know if you all remember, there was the day in training camp that year where he didn’t practice. I got all the reps because at the time, it was just me and (Jarrett) Stidham. The next day, he had that new contract. And I think at that point, it was more about being able to become a free agent after that year.”
Brady signed what was reported as a two-year, $70 million deal with the Patriots in August 2019. His salary was raised from $15 million to $23 million, and he was scheduled to make $30 million in 2020 and $32 million in 2021. However, both Brady and New England were “amenable” to adjusting the numbers if necessary, and the contract stated the Patriots could not franchise tag their longtime QB after the 2019 season.
Hoyer was asked whether Brady seemed ready to walk out if he and the team couldn’t come to terms on a deal.
“At the time I didn’t know that, but watching the show and hearing Tom talk about what he had heard, it sounds like that was surely the plan,” he answered. “Because when you watch the show, and we won the Super Bowl, and he basically said, ‘I’m not willing to go through it again like this,’ …
“I mean, I did not know it was to that extent and like I said, that was cleared up pretty quickly because it was one day where he didn’t practice and then the new contract was signed and he was back out there. I left a few weeks later to go to Indianapolis, so I know that was a rough year for him. I think they started off (8-0). Being a friend, I would watch their games and you could see there was no joy for him.
After a stellar 8-0 start, the 2019 Patriots went 4-4 the rest of the way and fell to the Tennessee Titans in the AFC Wild Card game. That marked the end of the Brady-Belichick era as the future Hall of Famer got his two-year, $50 million contract from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in March 2020. He’d go on to win his seventh and final Super Bowl title that season.
You can watch the full discussion with Hoyer on “The Dynastic Post Show” below:
