Tom Brady reacts to teams not hiring Bill Belichick

Add legendary quarterback Tom Brady to the list of former New England Patriots players surprised every team that had a head coach opening this offseason passed on hiring Bill Belichick. 

"I'm not one to hire," Brady explained during the latest edition of his "Let's Go!" SiriusXM show and podcast, per a Fox Sports piece. "I don't know the criteria for hiring these guys, for hiring coaches, you know. I've never been a part of it. I mean, I'm surprised that the greatest coach ever doesn't have a job, you know, absolutely. You know, I'm surprised about a lot of things in the NFL. When I was a free agent, there was a lot of teams that didn't want me."

Specifically, it's known Brady was at least interested in joining the San Francisco 49ers after the 2019 season and before that organization stuck with veteran Jimmy Garoppolo. 

NFL insider Jeff Howe of The Athletic wrote for a piece published last week about clubs hiring candidates other than Belichick that individuals throughout the NFL are still shocked the six-time Super Bowl champion head coach let Brady leave the Patriots as a free agent in March 2020. 

"There's a lot of things that happen that, for one reason or another, don't go exactly the way you think they should go," Brady added. 

Former Patriots wide receiver and Super Bowl LIII Most Valuable Player Julian Edelman generated headlines when he recently said that it's "crazy" that no team gave Belichick the keys to the kingdom this offseason. 

Meanwhile, retired quarterback and current CBS Sports NFL analyst Boomer Esiason suggested during the WFAN "Boomer and Gio" program on Monday that Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank had to essentially be convinced by people within the organization to hire Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris instead of Belichick. 

Perhaps teams simply didn't want to hire a head coach who turns 72 years old in April and seemingly could retire at any point after he earns the 15 wins needed to set a new NFL record for career victories (regular season and playoffs combined). 

Whatever did and/or didn't happen within front offices this offseason, it's clear at least a handful of team owners view Belichick differently today than do some men who previously played for him.