The Patriots Reportedly Wanted Tom Brady To Reach Out About A Contract But Didn’t Hear From Him Until He Told Them He Was Done

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The last time the New England Patriots started a season without Tom Brady under center, we lived in a world where people couldn’t get enough of the band Lifehouse, there was only a single Fast and the Furious movie in existence, and you could get through airport security without having to take your shoes off.

A lot of things have changed over the past couple of decades, and even though plenty of skeptics have spent recent years repeatedly forecasting the inevitable fall of the legendary quarterback, he suited up once again last season for the only team he’s ever played for at the tender age of 42 to prove his haters wrong once again.

The Patriots got off to a strong start but it soon became clear that all was not well in New England, as Brady was obviously displeased with the offensive talent (or lack thereof) that he was surrounded by and things got very interesting toward the end of October when Adam Schefter revealed all signs were pointing to him exploring free agency for the first time in his career when the season came to a close.

That season came to an unusually premature end after the Patriots were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs, and at that point, the floodgates officially opened to create a deluge of rumors concerning Brady’s future.

After months of speculation, Brady finally revealed he was taking his talents to Tampa Bay, an announcement that came shortly after he made a visit to Robert Kraft’s house to break the news he’d relay to heartbroken Patriots fans the following day.

The exact sequence of events that led to his decision still isn’t entirely clear but the pieces of the puzzle are slowly coming together, and earlier this week, Brady helped complete the border when he chatted with Howard Stern and disclosed he’d already started thinking about playing somewhere else prior to the previous season.

On Wednesday, Ian Rapoport shed even more light on the situation when he relayed what he’s heard about how the Patriots were deciding to approach things. If he’s to be believed, the franchise was under the impression Brady was entertaining a return and were waiting for him to contact them, but unfortunately, he only reached out to let them know they’d need to find another quarterback.

At the risk of coming off like one of those creepy pick-up artists with a steampunk aesthetic on that old VH1 show, I hope the organization now understands the importance of making the first move.