Bill Belichick considered trading Tom Brady before Super Bowl XLIX

According to Tom House, throw mechanics extraordinaire, Bill Belichick grilled House about whether or not he should trade Tom Brady in 2014. 

In the past, when people have looked at Tom Brady, they often didn’t see him.

He was overlooked in the draft, overlooked by analysts during his rookie season, and even overlooked as he approached age 40.

Brady had the vision that he would play until he was 45 years old, but few others shared that point of view. Max Kellerman foretold of a cliff that’s yet to come — Brady just connected with Julio Jones for the longest pass in Tampa Bay Buccaneers history three days ago.

And now, it turns out, Bill Belichick was blinded too by Brady’s increasing age.

House joined the Rich Eisen Show and divulged what Belichick said to House and Brady back in 2014, the year Brady turned 37 years old:

"“By the time I got around to Tom Brady, walking by Belichick’s office one time when we had been out on the field throwing the football, Belichick called us in and said, ‘Okay, tell me why I shouldn’t trade Tom Brady.’At this time, I think Brady was 37, 36. And I said, ‘Well, Bill, the research shows that if Tom does what he’s supposed to do, all those four things I just mentioned, which he does to the tee, there’s no reason he shouldn’t play until he’s 45.’And here we are.”"

Tom House saved Tom Brady from being cut by Bill Belichick before Patriots-Seahawks Super Bowl

House’s insight offers a few things to Patriots fans curious about what Brady’s life may have been like during his last decade in New England.

First, it alludes to reports that Belichick fully intended Jimmy Garoppolo to succeed Brady. Garoppolo was drafted in 2014, which, if Brady was 36 and approaching 37, would have been around this particular conversation. Clearly, Belichick was doing the work to create a succession plan for Brady with the idea that Brady was on his way out. As fate would have it, Brady would outlast Garoppolo as he has outlasted virtually everyone else.

This also underscores the tensions that reportedly caused Brady to leave New England. It’s one thing for House to assure Belichick that Brady could play until he was 45, but subsequent actions indicate that Belichick didn’t accept he would truly play for that long. There’s also the fact that New England failed at cultivating an adequate offense for Brady, which caused some analysts to mistake his 2019 season for signs of aging. One Bucs Super Bowl ring with Mike Evans later, it’s clear that’s patently false.

Then there’s the fact that House was right about everything. The former MLB pitcher spoke about how he changed the game of baseball by coaching Texas Rangers pitchers into their 40s, and he brought that throwing prowess to football and “fixed” Drew Brees. The fact that House is impressed with the development of Mac Jones says a great deal about how he too is underestimated by plenty of onlookers.

Time is undefeated, but so far, so is Tom Brady, a decade out from being almost shipped out of New England.