Patriots News: Harmon Talks Lions Trade; Gilmore, Slater React to Brady's Exit

There's no denying the New England Patriots will look very different when the 2020 NFL season begins.

Tom Brady has left for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, so the next man up at quarterback will have to find a way to help New England continue its winning ways.

Head coach Bill Belichick will have his hands full as he tries to maintain the Patriot Way, but in the early stages of the offseason, he has buy-in from key members of the team such as captain Devin McCourty, who was recently signed to a two-year contract worth $23 million.

"I know everyone's like 'what's going to happen, everything is brand new,' but I don't really see it like that," McCourty told Mike Dussault of Patriots.com. "I just see a continuance of what we've been doing and guys assuming the same leadership roles. We just have to continue to do what we've been doing."

Harmon Understands Lions Trade

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After starting a career-high eight games this past season for the Patriots, Duron Harmon was likely looking forward to having another banner year in New England.

That is, until he got traded to the Detroit Lions.

Most players would harbor some animosity for being dealt to another team, but according to the veteran safety, Belichick had a good reason for making the move.

"At the end of the day you have to look at it from both sides," Harmon told Devin and Jason McCourty on their Double Coverage podcast. "At the time, at the moment you hear you got traded and you're like, 'Aww, man.' But then you sit back and look at it, and the Patriots had to make some decisions.

"We had the opportunity to play last year with so many great defensive players. It was so many players everywhere, and just with the salary cap I understand the decision."

The fact that Harmon is reuniting with Matt Patricia, his former defensive coordinator, might also be a factor in his ability to understand the deal.

"He was just telling me it’s going to be a great opportunity for me (in Detroit)," he said. "I respect that because at the end of the day we know Bill is going to do what is best for the team and I respect that because not a lot of people can do that and have that commitment and dedication that the team is first."

Harmon was scheduled to be a free agent next summer.

With the move, New England saved $4.25 million that it can allocate elsewhere.

As for the former 2013 third-round pick, he'll also reconnect with Steve Gregory, a Patriots alum who is now the Lions' defensive backs coach.

"He was very big just in my development and being a professional," Harmon told Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com. "Gregory was like the one who really took me under his wings when I first got there as a young pup."

No Brady, No Problem

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Brady shook up the league when he decided to leave New England to sign with Tampa Bay, but not everyone was surprised by the move.

The AP Defensive Player of the Year, Stephon Gilmore, could see the writing on the wall.

"Not surprised," he told ESPN's Mike Reiss. "A player like him, playing somewhere that long, you never can see it, but it shows you that in the National Football League it can be anyone going somewhere. It's a business, and that's how you have to look at it."

Replacing a legendary quarterback like Brady will be no easy task for the Patriots, but that doesn't mean life comes to a screeching halt in New England.

The show must go on, and for Gilmore, who believes the team has a "clean slate" right now, last year's fourth-round pick, Jarrett Stidham, could be the next man on the marquee.

"He came in and worked hard and got better and better as the year went on. He has a strong arm," Gilmore said. "He makes some tough throws. Definitely made it hard on me in practice each and every week, going against whoever I was covering, making some great throws. It allowed me to get better in practice to prepare for the games."

Brady will be a huge loss, but the Patriots won the bulk of their games last year because of their top-rated defense.

And because of that, New England can still be New England.

"I don't think the goals change at all," special teamer Matthew Slater told Nick Shook of NFL.com. "The standard doesn't change at all. The pillars that we stand upon, they don't change at all.

"If you go into the season with a defeatist mindset, then you can't expect to be successful. We have a great opportunity. We have a lot of good football players. We have a tremendous coaching staff. We have to go into the season expecting more from ourselves than anyone outside the building expects from us.

"We have to go in with the same drive, the same focus, the same determination. If we don't, you shouldn't even step foot in the building, because we're already going to be beat."

Slater's equation for New England not beating itself is simple: find the new within the tried and true.

"We're going to have to be able to find a new identity for ourselves," he said. "I think part of that identity is going to be built upon things we've always stood for and will continue to stand for as long as this organization is led by the people it's led by. That's going to be selflessness, hard work, doing what's best for the football team, serving one another, not having any level of expectation that things are going to be handed to us."

In addition to playing for each other, Gilmore believes Brady's exit will allow for the team's other leaders to shine.

"You have to earn that leadership and earn that trust every year—leading by example, leading by making plays," he said. "That's the type of thing once you come together, and see what type of team you have, you can see who can be that guy.

"You don't know what you have until you actually get there. Everybody, it's a clean slate right now. Everybody has to prove themselves, each and every year. No matter where you're at, it starts over every year."

Follow Maurice Bobb on Twitter, @ReeseReport

Statistics obtained from Pro Football Reference