The man who wouldn't take questions on Tom Brady's departure to the Buccaneers — "water under the bridge" — was sure ready to inject former QB1 into Monday's conference call on his terms when given an opening.
"Over the last two decades, everything we did, every single decision we made in terms of major planning, was made with the idea of how to make things best for Tom Brady," Belichick said in response to a question about potentially changing the offense due to a new skillset at quarterback.
That was some statement.
Every single decision ... was made with the idea of how to make things best for Tom Brady.
Now, I get the spirit of what he was saying. Brady is a pocket quarterback whose mind is his best asset. Like any other player or position on the field, the Patriots reversed engineered the offense with that in mind.
While I don't think Belichick's statement was made to be taken literally — more in a general sense with a certain style of quarterback — let's take him at his word. When Belichick does actually say something of substance through the media, there's usually a reason.
If every decision was made to make things best for Brady, then what does that say about where Belichick thought Brady was the past two seasons?
If you look at the personnel moves the Patriots made on offense, then Belichick was trying to tell us that Brady was declining rapidly.
Why?
He prioritized building up the defense and the running game more than the passing offense. I mean, it's all there in black and white.
2018 PERSONNEL MOVES
Outgoing
Tried to trade TE Rob Gronkowski to the Lions
Traded WR Brandin Cooks to the Rams
LT Nate Solder signed with Giants (Patriots did not use franchise tag)
WR Danny Amendola signed with Dolphins
RB Dion Lewis signed with Titans
WR Malcolm Mitchell waived
Incoming
Traded for CB Jason McCourty
Traded for DT Danny Shelton
Signed DE Adrian Clayborn
Signed RB Jeremy Hill
Signed KR/WR Cordarrelle Patterson
Signed WR Eric Decker (never played)
Signed TE Troy Niklas (never played)
Signed WR Jordan Matthews (never played)
Signed WR Riley McCarron
Re-signed RB Rex Burkhead
Traded for OT Trent Brown
Drafted RB Sony Michel in first round
Drafted LT Isaiah Wynn in first round
Signed RG Shaq Mason to contract extension
2018 Offseason Skinny: The conclusion of the Patriots' 2017 season — especially when they scored 33 points, totaled 613 yards and never punted in the Super Bowl loss to the Eagles — marked the line of demarcation between the offensive Patriots, and the defensive Patriots.
New England finished the 2017 season with the No. 2 offense in points, and No. 1 offense in yards. Meanwhile, the defense was 29th in yards allowed — their worst ranking since 2011 (31st).
Brady was also, not coincidentally, 40 years old at that point. Other QBs had been productive at that age, but anything beyond that was dicey. This likely factored into Belichick's thinking after this season.
Heading into 2018, Brady was going to be 41 and it was an offseason of attrition around him with Cooks, Solder, Amendola and Lewis all allowed to leave without much of a fight, and the attempt to trade Gronkowski until Brady stepped in.
On the other side of the ledger, the Patriots made three major moves on defense with McCourty, Shelton and Clayborn. New England made little effort to replace the passing targets outside of retreads, and didn't try to start the transition away from Gronkowski. Brown ended up being a big move, but he didn't have much of a market at the time. The Patriots used the draft to bolster the running game, and the offensive line.
That's a lot of attrition on offense, and a build-up on defense. The Patriots were clearly moving toward being a more ground-based offense with the defense being the focal point. It would pay off in the Super Bowl, as the Patriots' defense carried the team to a 13-3 victory over the Rams.
The Patriots were now a defensive team, with Brady squeezing just enough out of a limited passing game when the chips were down.
The Patriots' offense went to 4th in points and 5th in yards. The defense improved to 21st in yards allowed.
2019 PERSONNEL MOVES
Outgoing
TE Rob Gronkowski retired
WR Chris Hogan signed with Panthers
WR Cordarrell Patterson signed with Bears
LT Trent Brown signed with Raiders
DE Trey Flowers signed with Lions
Incoming
Traded for DL Michael Bennett
Signed LB Jamie Collins
Signed DL Mike Pennel
Re-signed DT Danny Shelton
Signed CB Jonathan Jones to extension
Re-signed CB Jason McCourty
Re-signed DE John Simon
Signed WR Demaryius Thomas (never played)
Signed WR Dontrelle Inman (never played)
Signed WR Maurice Harris (never played)
Signed WR Cam Meredith (never played)
Signed TE Austin Seferian-Jenkins (never played)
Signed TE Benjamin Watson (out of retirement)
Signed WR Antonio Brown (played one game)
Traded for TE Eric Saubert (never played)
Drafted WR N'Keal Harry in first round
Drafted CB Joejuan Williams with second pick
Drafted DE Chase Winovich with third pick
Drafted RB Damien Harris with fourth pick
2019 Offseason Skinny: If you thought '18 brought bad news for Brady, then the '19 offseason was a nightmare. The top seven moves were all major and all on defense. Gronkowski retired and Hogan was allowed to depart, which only deepened the offensive hole from the season before. Things were so dire, Belichick actually had to draft a receiver in the first round (N'Keal Harry). And we all know how well rookie receivers acclimate to Brady and the Patriots.
How bad the Patriots were as far as offensive weapons was cemented in joint practices with the Lions — the freaking Lions — who trotted out Kenny Golladay, Marvin Jones, Danny Amendola, Jermaine Kearse, Tommylee Lewis, Jesse James and T.J. Hockenson.
Brady was throwing to Inman, LaCosse, Harry, Dorsett, Berrios, Harris, Watson, Ryan Izzo and Stephen Anderson.
It didn't help that basically everything they did offensively didn't work out, since just about everyone was cut. The Patriots were so desperate they had to sign the radioactive Antonio Brown (for big money) and he played one game.
Needless to say, I wrote: The defense is now the heart and soul of these Patriots.
The Patriots' offense finished seventh in points — their worst ranking since 2008 — and 15th in yards (2003). The defense was first in points and yards allowed for the first time ever under Belichick.
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- Investing heavily in passing targets was useless because it's not like Brady was going to be able to throw it 50 times a game;
- The defense had to be built up because Brady and the offense were not going to be able to sustain drives (drafting a punter added to this).
- Brady needed a better running game around him because his skills needed to be aided with the threat of the running game. He needed to be under center more with the thought of playaction — his days of spending most of the game in shotgun were over.