The Band Is Breaking Up

The Beatles are one of the most historical, iconic groups of uber-talented musicians ever assembled. Whether together or even separate, George, Paul, Ringo and John made their mark on the world and continue to make their footprint on history. I know what you’re thinking: “this is a sports blog on a sports page, so why is he talking about music? And what does this have to do with sports?” I get that, but if you know me to this point you know sometimes my takes and comparisons are a little farther out on the proverbial limb than most. Yet I still find my way back to the path, so grab a protein bar and hang in there. The “super-talented Beatles” of the NFL is (surprise, surprise) the New England Patriots. Except in this case there is a big three instead of four (Belichick is both the Head Coach AND General Manager of NE). For those who are not in the know the music group had about a 5 year run on top that most other groups will never even sniff. The Patriots on the other hand have had a staggeringly incredible 19-20 year magical mystery tour in the upper echelon themselves that has included 5 championships (2001, 2003, 2004, 2014, 2016). The other two in the “power group” of course are starting Quarterback Tom Brady and Owner Robert Kraft. This trio are the main constant in the past two decades of success with the revolving door of veterans and castoffs from other teams are the missing pieces each year. Now once again many of you are probably thinking: “Yeah, yeah, yeah we all know about the Pats and how they dominate the league” (and if you are an opposing team in their way you more than likely not thrilled with their triumphs). Fair point, however I tell or remind you of this because this “band” is on the verge of breaking up. Not speculation on my part, merely educated statements based on information I hear and discussions I have constantly with many who know more than myself. Let’s start with the news a few weeks back of the trio not getting along so well. This is human nature. Law of averages says that the more you are consistently around another human, the more likely it is that you may start to not agree quite as much. At some point Robert Kraft was bound to disagree strong enough on a decision that HC/GM Belichick made or wants to make that just so happens to pertain to Kraft’s favorite employee of all time: the starting QB Tom Brady. Happens every day in all facets except in this case it ruffled the feathers enough to where someone on the inside let the news trickle out to the common area otherwise known as general public. No worries here though because they go back to turtle mode and keep it all in house so it blows over faster than bubbles in a wind storm. Next hiccup: Brady gets more candid with his media relations. Not complaining here. We all wanted to know more about Touchdown Tommy’s daily life and his amazingly awesome family. The point here is Tom has pulled back the curtain that has been up for nearly his entire career, which can not make his head coach that excited. Information leaks in any big company usually lead to bigger issues which ultimately can send top people in different directions. The Jimmy Garoppolo trade did a small number on the “wall” that is this trio’s triumvirate rule. Belichick wanted to keep Jimmy. To a smaller degree he wanted to keep Jacoby Brissett. He got almost the same return in both trades and we clearly know that even as steady and dependable as Jacoby is, Jimmy might just be the next Tom, Peyton or Joe Montana. Belichick is known to hoard good to great QBs, yet here he sent both backups packing within months of one another for half their potential value. Otherwise known as “not a usual Patriots or Belichick type move”. Bill felt slighted and I’m sure wounded in the pride area by these. On the surface he mumbles past them through media questions but on the inside there’s some smoke AND fire here. Add to this that Tom is 40 and while there is a good chance he CAN play for 3-5 more years in the league, the actual number he gets to is closer to two or less remaining. So Belichick is influenced to trade both budding post-Brady offensive generals, knows Brady is not getting any younger, and now has no real backup option NOR incumbent if Brady’s wheels fall off sooner than expected. Plus, an owner who (after all this time) finally chose a player over his head coach. For many of you who do not know (and to remind those who do) Belichick comes from the Bill Parcels coaching tree. To say they are still “close” is like saying a NASCAR driver “likes” cars (drastic understatement). Bill P has been working on getting Bill B to follow a similar tract that he (Bill P) did later in his career: move on from your mainstay stop of the journey and travel south to warmer weather and the next challenge. In this case, consider Miami. Parcels still has ties to the organization. You may be thinking “Adam Gase is the head coach and owners really like him”. I agree. Belichick would more than likely take on the GM role and work WITH Gase to make the Dolphins an actual threat to the rest of the league here. There could be other likely destinations however Miami makes the most sense. If this happened how far out could it be? How about next season. Belichick does not “owe” New England or Kraft anything plus he’s losing his two top minds (no disrespect to any other coordinator he’s had) in Matt Patricia (defense) and Josh McDaniels (offensive) to new ventures in head coaching (Lions and Colts respectively). So let’s recap: he feels slighted, has ties to Parcels that keeps suggesting he possibly move on to the next challenge and also is losing his two top generals to other teams? At this point a move elsewhere not only sounds plausible it downright sounds like chocolate cake after a great 7 course meal! Of course, this is still just a far-fetched dreamland visit although it has more legs to stand on than publicly perceived. How or when will this play out? I guess we will all be watching super closely after Sunday’s big game, which could be the BIGGEST for the “Beatles of the NFL”.