I just don't know how you can even say that. They won 6 fucking rings for chrissakes. Even if you're on the "BUT BRADY" train, it was Bill who had to put those teams on the field and coach them up -- and with almost never any picks before, like, 28.
In another thread here, I did a bunch of stuff on BB's drafting. It has been superb. Absolutely superb. He makes lots of mistakes, of course, but so does every GM, especially if you do it for 23 years in a row. Consider all the decisions a GM has to make over that span of time. Drafting, trades, free agents, cap management, hiring coaches, etc. He's done an OUTSTANDING job as GM.
They won 6 rings and went to *13* Conference Championship games (winning 9 of them) from 2001-2018. So over 18 seasons (20 total with Brady), the Patriots went to 13 AFCCGs. For some perspective, Joe Montana (the previous GOAT) played for SF from 1979-1992, a span of 14 seasons. In that time, they won 4 Super Bowls and went to 6 NFCCGs.
New England
- 20 total seasons with the GOAT QB
- 6 Super Bowl titles (30.0%)
- 9 AFCCG victories (45.0%)
- 13 AFCCG appearances (65.0%)
Tom Brady with Tampa
- 3 total seasons with the GOAT QB
- 1 Super Bowl title (33.3%)
- 1 NFCCG victory (33.3%)
- 1 NFCCG appearance (33.3%)
San Francisco
- 14 seasons with the previous GOAT QB
- 4 Super Bowl titles (28.6%)
- 4 NFCCG victories (28.6%)
- 6 NFCCG appearances (42.9%)
Those 49ers had the GOAT QB, the GOAT WR, All-Pros all over the place, and one of the greatest coaches of all time in Walsh (and a good one to follow in Seifert). And they "only" made it to the NFCCG 42.9% of the time. I say "only" because that's still incredible. But the Pats made it to the AFCCG 65% of the time. That's RIDICULOUS.
Of course Brady was the key on-field guy in the Pats' dynasty. But to suggest that all you have to do is roll with the GOAT QB and you should be winning titles left and right is just absurd. (I know you were arguing against that point)
What BB did in building teams was amazing. What Bill did coaching teams was amazing. Tom Brady gets TONS of credit (and rightfully so) for what he did for the Patriots. Absolutely legendary. But it wasn't just Brady. BB did a TON as GM to build winning teams, which is especially hard in a salary cap era.