What Does Brady's Win Mean for the Legacy of Bill Belichick?

So the GOAT has just gone and added yet another Super Bowl ring to break his own record. As a Patriots fan, this created mixed emotions.

Obviously, I’m a big Brady fan and wanted him to win, but there’s also that part of me that is wondering why he is still not playing in New England.

While there are many debates online about why he left, the fact is none of us really know. Such has always been the way with Kraft, Belichick and Brady giving very little away. 

It is probably a mixture of different things between Belichick feeling his best days are behind him and Brady probably getting frustrated with the lack of firepower around him.

While the Patriots have drafted wide receivers, none of them have worked out very well while their big move for Antonio Brown ended very quickly due to his own problems, which he seems to have come through.

So either Brady wasn’t feeling the love or maybe he just wanted out to see if he could win with another team and without Belichick. 

Upon joining Tampa Bay Brady had a very good defense and also some weapons with Mike Evans, Scotty Miller and Chris Godwin.

Then Fournette, Gronk and Brown all joined to give the Buccs a serious chance. It took them a while to gel but when they got it together they finished the season 8-0.

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Now that they have it together it’s very unlikely they will revert while Brady is playing at QB. With Drew Brees considering retirement, the Falcons looking like they are starting a rebuild and Carolina not looking a contender just yet, it’s very easy to see the Buccaneers winning the next 2 NFC South titles and going on playoff runs.

This means the pressure is on Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots to deliver something and, while they may not admit it, I’m sure they have extra motivation now going forward.

While Tamp Bay has been pushing to go all-in with Brady at the helm, the Patriots had other issues to take care of, not just replacing their QB.

The Patriots had more opt-outs due to COVID than any other team in the league and were also unlucky to have 2 key players test positive for COVID in Cam Newton and Stephon Gilmore.

The offense seemed to get worse as the season went on, but the Patriots have a lot of cap room to play with and Bill Belichick did mention throughout the past season that they were saving the cap room for the 2021 offseason.

Belichick has never been afraid of making the big moves whenever he felt he needed to, even if some haven’t worked out the way he would have hoped. If he did let Brady leave without a fight then this is the biggest risk he has ever taken and he will need to use that cap space wisely this offseason.

As sports fans, we love to be quick to judge on who the best is and who's not getting it done, but this is very much a case of “to be continued” as there is still a lot of football ahead for both Brady and Belichick, so it’s something to look forward to.

This is a massive offseason coming up for the Patriots as they need to be competitive next season and make a stand in their division.

The Bills look like they are going to be consistent playoff contenders, while the Dolphins are getting better and think they have a franchise QB in Tua, while Jets fans are excited about Robert Saleh coming in and having the second pick in the draft.

The AFC East is about to get very competitive, so it could get very ugly very quickly for the Patriots if they don’t get it right this offseason.

There’s every chance Brady could add at least one more Super Bowl before he retires and if Belichick doesn’t come back with at least one more victory and some solid playoff runs, then history won’t look great on his legacy.