That’s a really difficult question. There are four people involved, not just two.
Robert Kraft: The big guy has worked miracles with the salary cap. With 20/20 hindsight his pursuit of Belichick has been justified, but it didn’t seem that way at the time. He more or less declared war on the Jets and ended up paying multiple draft picks for Belichick, who at the time was unproven.
Scott Pioli: He’s the guy who arranges the drafts and trades. Brady has had a team built around him with top talent. What would Brady be like with a team of scrubs? Would he be like Barry Sanders, a franchise player wasted? He’d probably be worse. Without the existing Patriots system, his skills would probably never be rewarded.
Am I starting a team with other good players? Am I building a one-year drive to the Super Bowl or a team that will compete every year?
Nevertheless, I have to agree with Ox. I think Belichick is one of the best coaches out there. But the gap between him and the many good coaches in the league is not as big as the gap between Brady and most quarterbacks. That gap is shrinking these last couple years, but for four or five years it’s been him and Peyton Manning and no one else. Everyone knows that the real Super Bowl has been Colts vs Pats in the playoffs because the winner was going to win the Super Bowl. Without Belichick, we might not have been in four Super Bowls this decade, we might not have won as many close games. And every Super Bowl win (and loss) was close, as were many of the games leading up. So maybe we only win one. But without Brady, I don’t think we win any.