A year after parting ways with legendary quarterback Tom Brady, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft was still answering questions about regret. In the 2021 offseason, Kraft justified the franchise’s decision and said something that, in retrospect, held a lot more meaning.

“It’s like marriages sometimes,” Kraft said in an interview late March, 2021. “No one knows on the outside everything going on, and you try to balance a lot, and it is what it is.”

Cut to 2026: renowned author Gary Myers appeared on the Ross Tucker Podcast to talk about his new book, Brady vs. Belichick: The Dynasty Debate, and revealed exactly what went on inside the building back then. Tensions were already high from head coach Bill Belichick’s benching of cornerback Malcolm Butler in Super Bowl LII. Following that loss, Kraft entered the 2018 offseason with a decision that would shape the trajectory of his franchise for the next three decades.

“Kraft put Belichick on double secret probation going into the 2018 season,” Myers said. “He was ready to fire him after the 2018 season until the Super Bowl, when they held the Rams to three points, and Kraft said, ‘Well, maybe he still has some gas left in the tank.’

“And then when Tom, that summer, came to him and said, ‘I want an extension, $25 million a year,’ and Belichick says, ‘no,’ Kraft makes a long-term decision that instead of sticking with Brady – because Bill’s filling his head with ‘he’s at the end of the line and he’s not going to last much longer.’ So Kraft decides, ‘Well, Belichick just proved to me in the Super Bowl. He’s still got a lot left. Tom struggled in that Super Bowl. They only scored 13 points. I’m going to side with my coach.’ And Kraft lived to regret that decision.”

Belichick came to the Patriots in 2000 with 25 years of coaching experience under his belt, and won the Super Bowl against the St. Louis Rams in his second season with New England. By the time the Pats defeated the Los Angeles Rams in 2018, Belichick had led the Patriots to 15 playoff appearances. As for Brady, that Super Bowl LIII victory showed cracks.

Brady went 21-of35 for 262 yards and an interception. A sack cost him 9 yards, and he lost another two yards trying to rush. A year later, Brady wanted a new deal, but Belichick wasn’t sold on it, and New England ultimately moved on from Brady after a Wild Card loss to the Titans ended their postseason run early.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that if the Patriots had not beaten the Rams in that Super Bowl (LII) that [Kraft] would have sided with Brady, and let Belichick leave, especially if Belichick stuck to it that he didn’t want to give Tom that contract extension,” Myers added. “So that Rams Super Bowl, the second one.

“It’s funny, the first Rams Super Bowl (2001) saved Belichick’s job – what Tom did that year saved Belichick’s job. Belichick was telling people he thought he was gonna be fired until Tom took over and got on that run, and then winning Super Bowl in 2018 saved Belichick’s job again because Kraft was ready to fire him a second time.”

One Super Bowl win bought Bill Belichick time from Robert Kraft. It came at the cost of Tom Brady. Everything that followed was perhaps because Kraft chose the wrong person. When a dynasty ends, it usually doesn’t come down to loyalty or logic. In the case of the New England Patriots, it boiled down to who Kraft believed still had something left.