Bill Belichick is not a real sentimental guy when it comes to building his roster. He has no problem whatsoever in parting ways with a player if he feels he can work around his departure or get something of value in return for it. The Philadelphia Eagles just beat the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl with two players that helped Belichick win his fifth Super Bowl as head coach the year before.
And we we’ve seen another long line of former Patriots players flanking out to the rest of the league, including wide receiver Brandin Cooks being traded to the Los Angeles Rams. While running back Dion Lewis signed with the Tennessee Titans, left tackle Nate Solder joined the New York Giants. Benched cornerback Malcolm Butler also joined Lewis and fellow ex-pat Pat Logan Ryan in Tennessee.
Oh, and wide receiver Danny Amendola stayed in the division, signing with the Miami Dolphins. The wide receiver acknowledged recently that he took less money to stay in New England in the past, but not this year.
“When free agency broke, I came to the realization that he wasn’t going to really come close to any of the other offers I had”, he recently told reporters. “I had to make a decision for my family and go down to Miami and continue my career there”.
He also made a decision not to play for somebody he described as “not easy” to play under and “an asshole sometimes”.
He said that “there were a lot of things I didn’t like about playing for him”, though he admitted that many of those things he didn’t like were aimed at making the Patriots a better team, which he respected.
“I didn’t like practicing in the snow, I didn’t like practicing in the rain, but that was going to make us a better football team and that was going to make me a better football player”, he said. “It wasn’t easy, and he’d be the first to admit, at the ring ceremony, that it wasn’t easy playing for him. The silver lining was that we were at the ring ceremony”.
Amendola also weighed in on Butler’s benching, saying that he asked why Belichick made that decision and got no answer. He seemed to express personal frustration, saying he was out there giving his “blood, sweat, and tears” while one of the team’s best players was being held back and decreasing their odds of winning.
“I hate to see a guy who worked so hard throughout the season not get a chance to play in the biggest game of the year and really get no explanation for it”, Amendola added. “With that said, I don’t know how the business aspect went into that decision. I don’t know how the personal aspect went into that decision between him and Bill. But as a friend, I would have loved to see him on the field that day”.
