Willie McGinest is delusional about the future for Tom Brady and Bill Belichick
Willie McGinest isn't making sense.
Willie McGinest seems to have forgotten the ruthlessness that comes with Bill Belichick and “The Patriot Way.”
McGinest, a retired Patriots linebacker and NFL Network analyst, was asked whether Brady might consider a landing spot like the Los Angeles Chargers during an appearance on the podcast The Dave Dameshek Football Program. McGinest didn’t like the idea, largely because he didn’t think Brady’s wife Gisele is a fan of California. (That, in itself, is a bizarre statement. New England over California? Weird. But let’s move on.)
McGinest suggested Brady and Belichick will look at all that they have accomplished following the 2019 season. And when Brady and Belichick return to negotiations over Brady’s contract, which is set to expire after 2019, they will feel compelled to give it one more year.
Here’s what McGinest imagined Brady saying to Belichick.
“I want to play one more year. You give me every resource that I can go out there and play my best. If there’s a free agent receiver, I want him. If there’s an offensive lineman, I want him,” McGinest said. “And I’m going to go out, and we’ll win a Super Bowl together, and then we’ll mutually say, ‘That was it. We had a great time.’ I’m going to retire. I’ll be done. And you can do whatever you’re going to do. And we can move forward.”
McGinest added: “Wouldn’t that just be the ultimate Patriot thing to do?”
No. What? No.
Has McGinest been listening to too much Boston sports radio?
The informed and respected linebacker knows the ins and outs of the Patriots organization. So he knows: the ultimate Patriot thing to do is to get rid of Brady. Forget emotion. Forget nostalgia. Belichick has long done what’s uncomfortable for most general managers. He parts ways with superstars (Drew Bledsoe, Richard Seymour, Lawyer Milloy, Logan Mankins, Mike Vrabel, Randy Moss and Wes Welker) who are past or leaving their prime. Belichick doesn’t cling to what he and Brady have accomplished in the past — the coach looks only at what they can accomplish in the future. Brady is 42. He’s still good, but he’s not playing like the G.O.A.T.
It might be time for Belichick to let Brady play elsewhere. And even if it isn’t and Brady stays in New England, it is also entirely against “The Patriot Way” for Belichick to make Brady the de-facto general manager for the offseason. The Patriots coach has a hard time giving up powers to Nick Caserio, the Patriots director of player personnel and one of the more respected personnel evaluators in the NFL. There’s no way Belichick will give Brady executive power on roster moves, which could ruin New England’s careful cap construction for when Brady retires.
McGinest is a smart man and an excellent analyst. This scenario, however, sounds a bit like fan fiction.