It’s sometimes forgotten that Reggie Wayne did not spend his entire NFL career with the Colts. Wayne also spent a very short time with the Patriots — and he has fond memories of it. So does his financial advisor.
That’s because Wayne only spent two weeks with the Patriots but made $450,000.
Wayne told Dan Hellie of NFL Media that mere days after receiving his $450,000 signing bonus in 2015, he realized it was time for him to retire. He approached Patriots coach Bill Belichick and offered to pay back the bonus, but Belichick told him that wouldn’t be necessary.
“I went up to him and I said, ‘I know I got a signing bonus. I’ll give it back, no biggie,” Wayne said, via the Detroit Free Press. “Bill Belichick told me to keep it. Told me to keep it. I’m like, ‘Hey, you ain’t got to bend my arm back twice.’ He told me to keep it. And that was love, man. And I always had respect for him. I’ve heard people and seen stuff that he’s done on camera of his respect for me, and maybe that was just his sign of appreciation. We had a lot of battles against that team, so he told me to keep it. We kept it in the bank. I appreciate it. Hey, the best job ever.”
When the Patriots played against Wayne and the Colts, Belichick often spoke about how much he respected Wayne. So Belichick felt that Wayne had earned every dollar he made, even if he didn’t do much in New England. It’s to the credit of Belichick (and Patriots owner Robert Kraft, whose money Belichick was letting Wayne keep) that they decided to let a good veteran player have one last payday.