Since Tom Brady chose to leave the Patriots in 2020, a continuous string of controversy and drama has appeared unavoidable in Foxboro. Much of it stems back to the reportedly deteriorating relationship between Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft, and that contributed to even more problems that occurred over the last five years.
It certainly led to the team's demise and put them squarely at the bottom of the league, from which they are still trying to escape. That explains why the legendary head coach was unexpectedly let go after the 2023 season, which opened the floodgates for rumors and reports about just how bad things were behind closed doors.
Much of that detailed the relationship between Belichick and Brady, and how Kraft couldn't forgive Bill for allowing the situation to unfold. For the fans, it was even more heartbreaking to see him go to the Bucs, win his seventh Super Bowl, and, in retirement, buy a minority stake in the Las Vegas Raiders.
That seemed like something Kraft could have easily offered him, helping to ease the tensions about his departure and making him an even more permanent fixture in New England. However, there didn't seem to be much interest from the Krafts to sell part of the team until news broke on Thursday about them doing just that.
Patriots fans will always wonder "what if?" with Tom Brady owning a part of the team
Because it seemed like the easiest thing to do to allow Brady to own a part of the Patriots, most analysts and fans assumed that Kraft wanted to keep the team in the family and wasn't interested in selling even the smallest stake in the team.
That is apparently not the case, as new reports indicate he is selling 8% of the team to two entities, which will inevitably have Patriots fans in an uproar about what could have been with the former quarterback.
🚨🏈 BREAKING: The @Patriots have reached an agreement to sell a stake in the franchise at a valuation exceeding $9 billion. The buyers are Sixth Street (3%) and Dean Metropoulos (5%).
— Sportico (@Sportico) September 25, 2025
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Maybe there was never a conversation between Brady and Kraft about a minority stake in the team, so it isn't necessarily fair to criticize the fact that no deal was ever made.
However, if Brady was poking around about owning a small part of an NFL team, it's hard to imagine that he didn't, at the very least, inquire about the team that he was a part of for two decades. And it's even more difficult to envision Kraft not being even the slightest bit interested in making that happen, considering how he's felt about Brady's departure over the last five years.
We'll surely never know, but it's fair to believe that Patriots fans will always wonder about the possibility of this partnership becoming a reality, especially after seeing just how involved he is with the Raiders.
That could have been an excellent way to bring him back to Foxboro in a way that fans would surely never forget. Too bad it will never happen.