Bill Belichick has never been afraid to trade players who are considered key cogs in the Patriots machine. We saw it with Drew Bledsoe and Randy Moss, and more recently with Chandler Jones, and days ago, Jamie Collins.
The two biggest takeaways: This is business and no one's job is safe, including four-time Super Bowl champion and future Hall of Famer Tom Brady.
"Yeah, absolutely," Brady said Wednesday (via NESN.com), on the prospect he could one day be shipped out of town. "You can't be around this long and not realize that the world will keep spinning and the sun will come up tomorrow without you. That's just the way it goes. I think you enjoy just what you -- the experiences that you have and then also understand it just keeps going on. It could happen to anybody. You just have to show up for work, do the best you can do everyday and let your performance just speak for yourself."
And even then, you could still find yourself elsewhere. Still, moving on from Collins, one of the league's best young linebackers, is a curious move. So what does Belichick say to those confused by the decision?
Trust his "professional judgment."
(The man has a point there.)
"I really don't pay too much attention to what's out there on the outside," Belichick said,, via WEEI.com. "I try to focus on the team and do what's best for the team, and that's what drives me is to make the best decisions I can for this football team, organization, ownership, the Kraft family. That's what I try to do. There's no way I can keep everybody happy anyway, so. Just do the best I can."
The Pats (7-1) are the best team in football. We're willing to give Belichick the benefit of the doubt (again). That said, God help us all should the day come when he does trade Brady.
