What Bill Belichick Told Demaryius Thomas After Trading WR To Jets
Bill Belichick is nothing if not honest with his players.
The New England Patriots’ legendary head coach, who also has a chief role in personnel decisions, has made quite a few stunning trades over the years. And though his swap of Demaryius Thomas to the New York Jets for a sixth-round pick wasn’t exactly a stunner, it was notable because he literally never had done business with Gang Green.
Thomas joined the Patriots in the offseason, rehabbing an Achilles injury suffered in December well into camp. He played in the preseason finale before being a shocking cut on cutdown day, only to rejoin the Patriot a couple days later. Shortly thereafter, he was traded to the Jets to make room for Antonio Brown.
Thomas dubbed his Patriots tenure and departure a “waste of time” and “insulting,” and in that same conversation with the New York Daily News’ Manish Mehta, the 31-year-old revealed how Belichick told him he’d been traded.
“Coach (Belichick) came up to me and was like, ‘Uh, we got too many guys. We can’t get the ball around enough and we’re going to trade you to the Jets,’” Thomas said. “And that was that. … Ain’t no reason to yell. They’ve won championships without me. I was only trying to be a part of something that was going to be good when I was there… They’re doing a hell of a job.”
The Jets and Patriots will face off Monday at MetLife Stadium.