Tony Romo Predicts Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, Josh McDaniels Go Separate Ways

For the first time in 20 years, there's great uncertainty about what the future holds for the New England Patriots in the wake of their 20-13 AFC Wild Card loss to the Tennessee Titans on Saturday night. 

CBS Sports analyst Tony Romo predicted after the game that the trio of Tom Brady, Bill Belichick and Josh McDaniels will "go separately" this offseason. 

McDaniels could be the first person to go based on the apparent interest in him from other teams as a head coach. NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported the Patriots offensive coordinator has emerged as a top candidate for the Cleveland Browns and Carolina Panthers. 

Brady, 42, has to decide what his future with the Patriots will be. The four-time Super Bowl MVP is set to become an unrestricted free agent in March for the first time in his 20-year career. He didn't completely rule out retirement after Saturday's playoff loss, but wasn't ready to discuss his future with reporters. 

"I would say [retirement is] pretty unlikely. ... I don't know what's going to happen. I'm not going to predict it. No one needs to make choices at this point. I love playing football. I love playing for this team. I've loved playing for this team for two decades and winning a lot of games. I don't know what it looks like moving forward, so we'll just take it day to day."

Brady's 4,057 passing yards were his fewest in a season which he played all 16 games since 2010; his 60.8 completion percentage was his worst since 2013 (60.5); and his 24 touchdown passes were his fewest over 16 games since 2006.

Belichick has always been tight-lipped about his future. The 67-year-old told Mark Maske of the Washington Post (h/t NBC Sports Boston's Tom E. Curran) in February 2017 that there is a "pact" with Patriots owner Robert Kraft that they don't talk about his retirement. 

New England's key trio of Brady, Belichick and McDaniels has been together for 16 of the past 20 seasons, with all six of the Patriots' Super Bowl victories coming with them working alongside each other.