Colin Cowherd says Bill Belichick is trying to sabotage Tom Brady

The Patriots received good value for Brandin Cooks. They traded the No. 32 overall pick for Cooks last year and flipped him to the Rams for the No. 23 selection. That's a win, because the Patriots almost certainly weren't going to re-sign Cooks when his contract expires at the end of 2018. 

But to Colin Cowherd, it's a sign that Bill Belichick is trying to sabotage Tom Brady.

On "The Herd" this week, Cowherd laid out Belichick's alleged devious plan. Cowherd introduced his seemingly inane hypothesis by flouting his connections around the league. He claims to be in regular contact with roughly "40 NFL sources" and dined recently with an NFL general manager (wow)! Apparently, breaking bread with a GM is the only thing required to read into Belichick's mind. 

Cowherd listed the litany of Patriots who have signed elsewhere this offseason, including Nate Solder, Danny Amendola and Dion Lewis. Even though Brady will turn 41 this season, Belichick isn't loading up on talent. Per usual, he is playing the long game, building for several years down the line instead of just one.

Or he's trying to ruin Brady in order to prove a point about the Jimmy Garoppolo trade. Either one.

"In one year, Brady's numbers are going down," Cowherd explained. "And Belichick is going to go to Bob Kraft and say, 'We're finally seeing his age.' Tom has been fooling us with age. Unless you really go into the numbers –– comes back against Atlanta, last year you look at his numbers, there's no erosion. But if you go inside them like Belichick does with data, there is proof that in November, December, January Tom is coming down, down."

"Five key offensive players have all been allowed to walk out the door... I'm supposed to believe it's a coincidence?" @ColinCowherd explains the message Bill Belichick is sending this offseason pic.twitter.com/RQK1LnGYZy

It's uncertain where Cowherd is getting that information. Brady won MVP honors last season and put together maybe his best playoff run ever –– throwing for 1,132 yards with eight touchdowns and an 108.8 QB rating. 

That seems to be the opposite of "coming down, down." But then again, most of us aren't in regular contact with around 40 NFL sources.