Asante Samuel weighs in on why Tom Brady left the New England Patriots

New England Patriots two-time Super Bowl champion cornerback Asante Samuel shared his thoughts on the departure of longtime quarterback Tom Brady.

The Tom Brady saga seems to continue on for the New England Patriots.

Former Patriots cornerback Asante Samuel weighed in with his thoughts on why the departure of Brady happened the way it did.

Here is a little backstory on Samuel’s history in New England.

After being taken in the fourth round of the 2003 NFL Draft by the Patriots, Samuel followed up a great rookie season by becoming a starter for the Super Bowl in just his second year in the NFL.

By 2006, Samuel was arguably one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL — with 24 pass deflections and 10 interceptions — and he wanted to get paid accordingly for it.

The Patriots followed up in 2007 by placing the franchise tag on Samuel, which then led to him holding out for most of the preseason. Samuel signed the one-year tender, had a Pro Bowl year, and helped lead the Patriots to Super Bowl XLII (his third in five years) before leaving the team the following offseason in free agency.

Samuel was evolving into one of the best cornerbacks in the league while he was in New England. He made the Pro Bowl, went to three Super Bowls, and is a member of the Patriots All-2000s Team.

So it’s fair to say that there was probably some built-up animosity on behalf of Samuel after the Patriots were reluctant to commit to him long term. Although Samuel is not the first player to say that playing in New England was unenjoyable, he is, however, the most recent.

Here’s what he said, per TMZ Sports:

"“It’s a one-of-a-kind situation. It worked out for me, man. It made me a better man, but it’s not something I enjoyed. Everyone wants to do stuff they love and enjoy. I think that’s the one thing that most people will say.”"

Samuel also weighed in on Brady’s departure. He said that he was surprised at first, but in the same moment, he wasn’t surprised at all:

"“I was surprised, but then again I was not surprised. He probably just got tired of it. He probably got tired of some inner circle things that he wanted. Maybe he wanted receivers and tight ends to stay with them and maybe Bill tried to trade them. Who knows what happened. You know, he probably just got fed up with it at the end of the day.”"

Samuel and Brady were teammates early on in both of their careers. Whether Samuel is right or wrong in his analysis, the majority of fans saw the writing on the wall last year … and Samuel has only alluded to the elephant in the room and turned it into words.

To wrap it up, the New England Patriots needed to move on from Tom Brady and get the future of their franchise in order and in line. While the Patriots will be preparing for the future of their team, Brady and his Tampa Bay Buccaneers are already in the conversation of winning the Super Bowl this year.