It started off like a nice romance. Coach Belichick was directing the AFC team in the 2007 Pro Bowl following the 2006 season. LB Adelius Thomas got to spend some time with him. Thomas soon became a free-agent and signed a 5 year $35 million contract with the Pats.
Thomas was a vital cog in the Pats defense as they rolled through their undefeated season in 2007. Who can forget the Sports Illustrated cover with him, along with fellow LB's Tedy Bruschi, Mike Vrabel, Roosavelt Colvin and Junior Seau. Things couldn't get any better.
Thomas played great defense in the Super Bowl XLII loss to the Giants. There was nothing negative to say about his performance, but things went downhill after that.
Nine games into the 2008 season, Thomas broke his arm and ended up done for the season. He rehabbed and got himself back onto the field for 2009. In site of a great opening game against Buffalo, his role as pass rusher changed. His poor play against Denver in Week 5 resulted in him being benched against Tennessee the following week. It was never the same after that.
Ultimately, he became one of four players sent home from practice by Coach Belichick after being late for a meeting because of a snow storm. He was very vocal about his feelings and was subsequently benched for the game against Carolina.
He recently gave an extensive interview in the Boston Globe and was at loss to explain the demise of his relationship with Coach Belichick. It appeared that they had reached a point of no return. The team was unable to trade him on draft day.
Yesterday, the team released a short statement saying that Thomas had been released. Coach Belichick during an interview on WEEI lauded Thomas for his play in 2007 and indicated that the team was ready to move in another direction. Nothing else was said.
Thomas is expected to sign with another team in the near future.
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