I have no issue with Seth Wickersham’s piece on espn.com regarding the power struggle between Bill Belichick, Tom Brady and Robert Kraft. Quite frankly, the notion that there is a rift is not that hard to believe. 

Patriots fans and certain members of the media around here need to take off their rose colored glasses for a second and analyze the piece.

According to Wickersham, the rift between Belichick and Brady centers around Brady’s trainer and business partner Alex Guerrero. Guerrero had access to the team for years but was banned from the facility last month because other players started seeing him and not using team doctors and trainers, Belichick didn’t like that and banned Guerrero. This in turn upset Brady. 

I am sure there is some level of truth to that aspect of the piece, especially because Brady swears by Guerrero. Brady openly credits Guerrero with being able to play at such a high level this late in his career. He also credits Guerrero with changing his life ever since the two started working together in 2004. 

Cutting Guerrero off might be at the core of the Belichick, Brady rift but I think there is much more to their rift that that. 

In my opinion, the rift between Belichick and Brady is more about Jimmy Garoppolo and Brady’s desire to play longer than it is about Guerrero. I believe Wickersham when he says that Brady felt threatened by Garopollo. Why wouldn’t he? Garoppolo is good and based on the way he finished the season in San Francisco, is a franchise quarterback.

Now I know what you are thinking. Why would the greatest quarterback in NFL history feel threatened by Jimmy Garoppolo? Brady felt threatened by Garopollo because he is 40 and wants to play until he’s 45. Garopollo represented a challenge to Brady finishing his career in New England, something that means a lot to Brady. 

So, Brady used his close relationship with Kraft to force Belichick to trade Garopollo. Once Garopollo and his agent Don Yee rejected the Patriots multi-year offer that would have paid Garopollo $17 million per season, Belichick had no choice but to trade Garopollo so he reached out to the 49ers. 

You can say the reason Belichick traded Garoppolo was because Garopollo rejected the Patriots offer, not because Brady went to Kraft. Fair point, but I also think that Brady was pushing for Garopollo to be traded behind the scenes. Brady might be diplomatic and say all the right things in front of the media but he has an ego and believes that he is the Patriots starting quarterback until he is ready to walk away. It’s hard to argue with his line of thinking considering the career he has had. 

Do I think everything in the Wickersham piece is accurate? No, but it is also not a hit piece designed to make the Patriots look dysfunctional. That is nonsense. Contrary to popular sentiment around here, the Patriots are not immune to controversy. Maybe just maybe, there is a rift there and maybe it is fracturing the organization. We don’t know. We are not at One Patriot Place on a daily basis. We are not privy to conversations Belichick and Brady have. Maybe they are having issues. It’s not out of the realm of possibility.

In the end, all parties involved will put their egos aside and work towards winning a sixth Super Bowl title. Once the season is over, there will be changes in Foxboro. Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels and defensive coordinator Matt Patricia are both expected to land head coaching jobs. With both coordinators expected to leave, will Belichick want to start over and if so, will he want to start over with new coordinators and an aging Tom Brady? We will see. 

Either way, business will pick up in New England after this season and what happens could have long term ramifications.