Bills

Billts TE Dalton Kincaid did not have knee surgery this season and spoke out about it with reporters, noting that the doctors did not recommend that he have the surgery.

“After the season ended, I talked to a lot of doctors who know a lot more than I do regarding the PCL and everything that has to do with health and they advised against it,” Kincaid said, via Sal Capaccio. “So, believe them and that kind of went into setting a good foundation for strength around the need to support it…..got plenty of opinions from people, you know, great doctors, a bunch of team doctors around the league, and so I went with their suggestions and opinions.”

Dolphins

• Per SI.com’s Albert Breer, there were some questions about how Dolphins first-round OL Kadyn Proctor fit into the vision GM Jon-Eric Sullivan said he wanted for players, with an emphasis on grit and a team-first mentality. Breer notes Proctor gave some people the impression he carried himself like a superstar at Alabama and also had issues managing his weight. 
• However, the Dolphins believed from their sources that Proctor was “competitive” and “prideful,” and that he eased any concerns about his weight during his 40 visit.  
• Per Breer, Sullivan told assistant GM Kyle Smith on Thursday going into the first round, “Wouldn’t it be cool if we wound up with Proctor and [San Diego State CB Chris Johnson]?”  
• Dolphins HC Jeff Hafley talked about reaching a long-term deal with RB De’Von Achane: “I think it sends a good message when you have a player who’s here on his first contract, and has produced and had success, to reward that player.” (Marcel Louis-Jacques)

Patriots

Former Patriots HC Bill Belichick admitted that QB Tom Brady‘s decision to leave New England for Tampa Bay was the right thing to do back in 2020.

“Tom leaving was absolutely the right thing for him to do,” Belichick said, via Boston.com. “We didn’t have a good team in 2020. We just didn’t have a good football team. We had all those guys that left — (Rob) Gronkowski and (Julian) Edelman. Most of our team was gone. (Devin) McCourty and a few others were still there, but they were about to go, too. We were just at the end. And honestly, I was happy for him that things worked out well for him in Tampa, because he was with a team … and then he went on and won. That made me happy for him, because Tom — it wouldn’t have gone well in 2020 in New England. On this, I can guarantee that.”

“I wish we could have done more, but we went as far as we could,” Belichick continued. “And look, he proved it — he played longer than anybody, played at a higher level than anybody. And again, tremendous credit to him. Nobody else did that — that was him. I learned so much from Tom. I never played quarterback,” Belichick said. “Tom saw the game through a quarterback’s eyes. I saw the games through a coach’s eyes. Together, I think we both learned a lot from each other. Tom, how defensive coaches looked at him or looked at offense. Me, on what a quarterback can do and what he can’t do, what’s hard, what’s easy, what I can see, what I can’t see, and how you see the game.​ Tom wasn’t a dominant personality. He was just a great leader. He would do whatever you asked him to do. Honestly, if you told him to go out there and run a reverse and block the defensive end, he’d go block the defensive end. He’d do whatever the team needed him to do, and he was very competitive.”