Former Patriots DB Aqib Talib is retiring, but Bill Belichick gave him a call first.
It’s time to give a farewell well-wish to DB Aqib Talib, who was a vaunted member of the Patriots secondary for a short spell, and ended up entrenched in battles with the team for far longer as an integral member of the Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Rams.
Talib announced his retirement on Wednesday, but dropped an interesting tidbit right along with it that we’re sure the folks in Foxborough weren’t thrilled about.
Bill Belichick operates in secret most of the time, but Talib revealed that The Hoodie gave him a call this offseason in an effort to get him to forego retirement one more time and come cover tight ends with the Pats.
Talib considered it, checked the team’s schedule, and passed with great enthusiasm when he saw the tight ends Belichick was referring to.
Talib says the Patriots tried to sign him this offseason to cover tight ends. Said he "was halfway out the door," then looked at the tight ends on NE's schedule (Kittle, Kelce, Waller, Andrews, etc.) and realized he wasn't up for it. https://t.co/LnJWr0nKlp
— Zack Cox (@ZackCoxNESN) September 9, 2020
After calling Belichick his “big homie” (we love it), Talib details the conversation thusly:
"“[He] told me that he had the role of a lifetime for me. He really wanted me to come in and strap tight ends. I was halfway out the door, I had flights, I started finding apartments. I could’ve got up to 5.5, 6 million dollars, nice, fat contract. I could make 6 million dollars and guard tight ends all day, I’m like, I’m cool! I kinda start going through that schedule…I kinda seen [George] Kittle, [Travis] Kelce, [Darren] Waller…”"
Talib’s hilarious rant ends with a declarative question: “Can I even strap these damn tight ends?!”
The man considers himself a relentlessly positive thinker, but even he couldn’t get himself on the right side of the argument here.
𝗕𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚: Aqib Talib, former All-Pro CB and Super Bowl champion, announces retirement after 12 seasonshttps://t.co/WcZgWGNAcA pic.twitter.com/yQEeWLMhb4
— Around The NFL (@AroundTheNFL) September 9, 2020
Talib’s explanation here hit the perfect pitch. Sorry, Bill — he thought about it, and his thought was probably correct. Based on the enthusiasm, he’ll be relentlessly entertaining in the media sector from hereon out.
DB hasn’t been the type of problem area for the Patriots we’d really considered this offseason, but considering how bleak the tight end picture Talib paints is, we sincerely hope Belichick has figured out a proper way to cover this trouble spot since this phone call was made.
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