Tom Brady and Josh McDaniels' Fraying Relationship Reportedly Led to Patriots Departure

The lack of trust in the New England Patriots to equip him with elite perimeter weapons is widely recognized as the driving force of Tom Brady's surprising departure from Foxborough. However, as important as reliable wide receiver play is at this stage of the 42-year-old's career, pundits and fans were never really convinced that was the sole reason he bolted for Tampa Bay in free agency.

Well, as it turns out, there was another contributing factor.

Per NFL columnist Gary Myers, Brady's "deteriorating" relationship with Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels played a part in his decision to leave New England.

Hard to present an order of why Tom Brady didn't want to return to Patriots. But one thing has been very much overlooked, according to an excellent source: His deteriorating relationship with OC Josh McDaniels. Tom was worn out by Josh after all these years. That surprised me.
— Gary Myers (@GaryMyersNY) May 11, 2020

The report claims that McDaniels didn't permit Brady the voice he wanted in certain game-plans. The former has been the Patriots' OC and quarterbacks coach for eight years running. Outside of a two-year stint as the Denver Broncos' head coach and spending the 2011 season as the then-St. Louis Rams offensive coordinator, McDaniels has been a part of New England's organization since 2001, which was Brady's first year as the starting quarterback.

Besides a heated sideline exchange against the Buffalo Bills back in 2017, the two appeared to maintain a strong relationship throughout the years.

Report: Reasons why Tom Brady left New England included 'deteriorating relationship' with Josh McDaniels https://t.co/vayEZqECB2
— Ryan Hannable (@RyanHannable) May 11, 2020

This report doesn't confirm anything, but it really makes you wonder if McDaniels drove Brady out of New England. The three-time MVP looked miserable for large portions of the 2019 campaign.

For the Patriots' standards, last season was woeful from an offensive standpoint, and McDaniels pulled the majority of those strings. A simple connecting of the dots pins the team's longtime coordinator as the culprit here.