Bill Belichick Calls Tom Brady 'The Greatest' QB of All Time Upon Patriots Exit

Tom Brady announced with lengthy statements posted to Twitter and Instagram that he will be leaving the New England Patriots when he becomes a free agent for the first time in his 20-year NFL career:

The Pats followed suit by releasing statements from owner Robert Kraft and head coach Bill Belichick:

"Sometimes in life, it takes some time to pass before truly appreciating something or someone but that has not been the case with Tom," Belichick said at the end of his statement. "He is a special person and the greatest quarterback of all-time."

Belichick and Brady won six Super Bowl titles together—most recently capping the 2018 season with a 13-3 Super Bowl LIII victory over the Los Angeles Rams. Brady's six rings are the most all-time for any player.

Kraft told ESPN's Mike Reiss that Brady came over to his home on Monday night to relay his decision to play elsewhere:

The Boston Herald's Karen Guregian reported that Belichick and Brady had spoken on the phone March 3 about the 42-year-old's free agency, and it "didn't go well." 

NBC Sports Boston's Tom E. Curran reported on Tuesday morning that the Patriots never made "a tangible effort" to retain Brady. "No negotiation," Curran wrote. "Just the intimation that it was on Brady to say what he wanted. For Brady, that stance spoke volumes."

ESPN's Jeff Darlington said on Get Up that the decision to leave New England was more about his own wants than the Pats': 

"This was always about another adventure, about being reinvigorated, about taking his career somewhere else for fun. And I think that that's something that was difficult for people to digest at this point, and that makes sense. We're talking a 42-year-old quarterback who is perhaps the greatest of all time, who played 20 years in the same place. It is hard to fathom, but for Brady, it is not."

Brady told ESPN's Ian O'Connor in 2017 that playing until he's 45 years old "is a pretty good number for right now."

In terms of where the California native, who turns 43 in August, could do that, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport relayed that the Los Angeles Chargers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers have each offered $30 million or more per year in pursuit of him.