"He absolutely made the right decision. We could not put a good team around him. Financially, after stretching for ten years, we ran out of cap space and had to rebuild the team; 2019 was our last real opportunity to win; 2020 was a rebuild, and we were back in the playoffs in 2021."
"Despite winning a Super Bowl during the 2018 season, Brady's final year in Foxborough was rife with speculation that the six-time Super Bowl champion was pondering his future after leading a New England team short on high-end talent. Even though the 2019 Patriots closed out the year with a 12-4 record, New England fell to Mike Vrabel and the Tennessee Titans, 20-13, in the Wild Card Game at Gillette Stadium."
"The 42-year-old Brady also posted one of his more pedestrian stat lines that season - completing 60.8 percent of his passes for just 24 touchdowns and eight interceptions. But New England also had a diminished receiver corps beyond Julian Edelman (100 catches, 1,117 yards), with Phillip Dorsett standing as the next wideout with the most yardage on the team with just 397 yards on the year."
Tom Brady departed New England in free agency after the 2019 season to join another Super Bowl contender because the Patriots could not assemble a high-end roster around him. The Patriots' dynasty effectively ended and Bill Belichick's teams went 29-38 over the next four seasons with one playoff appearance, culminating in a four-win 2023 that prompted organizational change. The 2019 Patriots finished 12-4 but lost the Wild Card Game to the Tennessee Titans 20-13. Brady's 2019 numbers (60.8 percent completion, 24 touchdowns, eight interceptions) reflected diminished surrounding talent beyond Julian Edelman, whose 100 catches and 1,117 yards far outpaced the next receiver.
Read at Boston.com
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