I doubt he retires especially if Brady leaves town. It would be another opportunity to prove that he can do it with any QB.
Can't forget to give ardent respect for their front office. There were a set of years wherein they seemed to have it all figured out; getting rid of star players a year early, having 2 first round picks year after year, drafting/sigining well.
It sucks to say that the Pats are a very well oiled machine from top to bottom and with a genius (almost gagged)... genius (there it goes again)... genius like Belicheat as the conductor that train is not going to run out of tracks soon. Brady played horribly this season compared to others and they were still the Pats.
It will be fascinating to see what happens if Brady leaves. I have mixed feelings. I've never been the guy to hope Brady gets injured or retires. I want to beat the best to be the best. But it'll be interesting to see how the front office handles the transition and what Belicheat will do with the new starter.
Sadly I feel the same way. Bill Walsh was a self-proclaimed genius ... and if we're being honest, he was right. He designed the West Coast Offense for Ken Anderson as the OC in Cincinnati because Paul Brown told him he needed a passing game that didn't throw the long ball because Anderson didn't have it anymore. So, Walsh set about designing a quick passing game to simulate running plays. It worked, he tweaked it extensively, and by the time he went to San Francisco, he had a system that nobody in the power-based NFL could defend ... smaller, quicker, faster, OL who only needed to pass protect for a couple of seconds and were more interested in pulling and getting to LB's than they were of pushing DL's. The system was indefensible with the power-merchants of the day. He dominated. Arguably, he had a guy I always liked, but disagree with many saying he was the greatest QB of all time, Joe Montana, and the West Coast Offense fit him to a T. Long on leadership, accuracy and touch, and short on arm-strength, Joe threw darts .... and that's all they needed. No long outs that require velocity or forcing it into deeper receivers when DB's have time to react ... just spread 'em out, get a long handoff into the gazelle's hands (Jerry Rice, etc.) and watch them rack up the RAC.
So what happened after Joe Montana? Well, the 49'ers, much like the Indianapolis Colts of recent times, had an embarrassment of riches, so they pushed out Joe Montana to usher in the Steve Young era. Didn't miss a beat. Sure, Young was another fantastic QB ... but you see my point. Great coaches go from one to another. Whether it's Farve to Rodgers, Manning to Luck, Montana to Young, or Unitas to Griese to Marino (with some filler in-between), great coaches seem to find and showcase great QB's as much as the great QB's make their teams better. And with all the QB's learn under those great coaches, by the time they're veterans and do move on ... they continue to dominate. IMHO, it doesn't change the fact that the coach is the one who makes that team great, and even without the marquee QB, the same coaches just seem to keep making teams with frachise QB's.
Andry Reid may be the most recent example ... Donovan McNabb fulfilled his potential under Reid, as did many other QB's, and now we're seeing it really blossom with Mahomes. I just don't think it's coincidental or accidental. I, like your
@marino13zach54 , credit the coaches.