Rex Ryan’s animosity towards Bill Belichick has been founded for a long time and is mainly based on Ryan’s inability to outdo the Patriots coach at AFC East for almost a decade. But the former Jets and Bills coach and current ESPN analyst was correct in his statement that the players did not go to New England because of Belichick, but why did they want to play with Tom Brady? Ryan certainly added some ammo to that arsenal today.
Hours after Matt Stafford was traded to the Rams for Jared Goff and a series of picks, news leaked that the New England Patriots were the only the team that Stafford wouldn’t accept an exchange for. This may have been the case for many reasons, from the Patriots ‘lackluster talent in the attack to the fact that former Lions coach Matt Patricia has returned to the Pats’ technical team. But the fact that Stafford chose the Patriots certainly helps Ryan’s argument about Belichick last week.
Here is the video of Rex Ryan’s comments. He added that Brady is the reason why they won, so he attracted these players.pic.twitter.com/cF5vRgdjgn
– Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) January 24, 2021
For many years, it seemed that Belichick was a magnet that talented players were attracted to. He took full advantage of Randy Moss, Wes Welker and Corey Dillon after the negotiations. Aqib Talib started his remarkable career in New England, Kyle Van Noy proved to be a rough diamond for them and Stephon Gilmore became a star there. Many other underrated talents started or started again thanks to Belichick and it seemed that he was the man who could change any career.
However, for the past two years, Belichick’s reputation as an obstinate coach, the way I want to or that gets off the road, has apparently scared the players. Between unsatisfactory draft decisions, poorly placed negotiations and an inability to hire someone important in a free agency, the Patriots’ offensive skill positions suddenly became deprived of top talent. This was evident last season, when Cam Newton struggled to consistently achieve anything through the air and probably played a role at Stafford, not wanting to play for the Patriots in 2021 and beyond, while trying to win the Super Bowl.
SOURCE: Stafford told Lions that he negotiates anywhere but New England https://t.co/WtW32wolod
– Tom E. Curran (@tomecurran) January 31, 2021
Meanwhile, Tom Brady has attracted great talent to Tampa Bay, where Antonio Brown, Leonard Fournette, Rob Gronkowski and others have signed cheap contracts for the chance to play alongside Brady. It worked for them, as they are in the Super Bowl, with the chance to add a big ring to their jewelry collections.
For Ryan, this is added food for a grudge he held against Belichick, as he was kicking Ryan’s ass up and down on Broadway as the Jets’ coach and then across Lake Erie with the Bills. Now Ryan can say with even more confidence, it wasn’t me losing to Belichick, it was me losing to Brady. This should help you sleep more deeply at night.