Rex Ryan Believes the New England Patriots Are Making a Huge Mistake, Aren't Special Anymore

Rex Ryan hopped on Get Up to react to Tom Brady's bombshell news and shared some strong, rapid-fire thoughts on how this portends bad things for the New England Patriots. Ryan essentially said not ensuring the quarterback's return was a giant mistake for the franchise and that AFC East foes have little to be scared of now.

Ryan later added that he was poised to watch the Patriots' demise and regaled the audience with a story about beating Bill Belichick head-to-head the one time Brady wasn't involved.

With the obvious caveat that Ryan has forgotten more football than I'll ever know, we see things differently. Yes, the Patriots have lost their special, unique sparkle. And yes, Brady won a Super Bowl 14 months ago. But anyone who watched last year could see he's in obvious decline and that barring some sort of magical potion (which with Brady is a possibility), turning back the clock is going to be a Herculean task.

However the behind-the-scenes negotiations went down, moving on from a 43-year-old quarterback will set the Patriots up for more future success. Early reports are that there wasn't exactly a hard sell.

While it's undeniable that the Patriots are much closer to conformity today than they were yesterday, there's a reasonable argument to be made that it's just what the doctor ordered for the long-term health.