ESPN: Confidant of Tom Brady Says QB Didn't Feel Appreciated by Patriots

Tom Brady didn't feel appreciated during his final season with the New England Patriots in 2019, according to one of the quarterback's confidants.

Per ESPN's Seth Wickersham, the confidant said of Brady: "He was like, 'Why am I doing this?'"

The confidant added that Brady felt as though head coach Bill Belichick took the offense for granted due to how good it had been in past years and noted that Brady wasn't happy amid an 8-0 start since the defense was largely responsible for the team's success.

After spending the first 20 years of his career in New England, Brady surprised many in the football world by signing with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this week.

While the Pats went 12-4 and won the AFC East for the 11th consecutive year in 2019, they failed to earn a first-round bye and shockingly fell at home to the Tennessee Titans in the AFC Divisional Round of the playoffs.

Brady and the offense struggled in that playoff loss just as they did all season. The six-time Super Bowl champion and four-time Super Bowl MVP completed just 60.8 percent of his passes for 4,057 yards, 24 touchdowns and eight interceptions, representing his worst production in several years.

Much of that had to do with a lack of talent around him. Brady didn't have many pass-catchers he could count on aside from slot receiver Julian Edelman and running back James White, and the Pats didn't do enough to replace tight end Rob Gronkowski after he retired.

As a result, Brady signed with a Buccaneers team that is rich with offensive targets. In Tampa, Brady will throw to a pair of Pro Bowl wide receivers in Mike Evans and Chris Godwin as well as a promising tight end in O.J. Howard.

After Brady officially made the decision to leave New England, Belichick and owner Robert Kraft released statements expressing their appreciation for Brady:

The gesture may have served the Patriots better had it happened earlier, however, as Brady reportedly didn't leave on the best of terms.

According to Wickersham, a meeting with Belichick ended in a "blowup" and Kraft gave Brady "mixed signals" about whether the Patriots wanted to re-sign Brady and allow him to finish his career in New England.

Brady made it clear that he wanted to play into his mid-40s but didn't feel as though the Pats did enough to commit to him.

The inability of Brady and the Patriots to get on the same page resulted in the dissolution of the most successful partnership in NFL history and left the Pats highly vulnerable for 2020 and beyond, with the inexperienced Jarrett Stidham currently the top candidate to replace Brady.