Robert Kraft Responds to Tom Brady's Social Media Post About Leaving the Patriots

Tom Brady is as synonymous with the New England Patriots as anyone who has ever been associated with that franchise, but two decades of good will wasn't enough to keep him as the team's starting quarterback in 2020. The man himself announced he will be playing elsewhere next season.

Patriots owner Robert Kraft spoke about how the negotiation process with Brady went on Monday night. While he called it "positive" and "respectful," he acknowledged this scenario is "not the way I wanted it to end." Kraft thanked Brady for his 20 years as a Patriot, saying he loves him "like a son."

Brady declined last season, posting his lowest passer rating and yards per attempt since 2006. Even at the age of 42, Brady is going to have a somewhat decent market in free agency, but New England didn't seem to fit Brady's needs at this stage in his career.

As respectful as Kraft sounded in that statement, he wasn't exactly going to back up the Brinks truck for TB12, as John Clayton reported that Brady's lowest offer to this point in free agency came from New England. If true, that's likely one of the main reasons Brady abandoned ship.

It sounds almost inconceivable, but Brady will be playing somewhere that is not New England in 2020. No matter who the Patriots manage to pick as a replacement, things will certainly seem much different in Massachusetts without Brady under center next season.