Jonathan Kraft On Felger and Mazz last night [October 2009 thread]

[robertweathers]

Not sure how many of you heard the fairly animated exchange b/t/w Felger and Jonathan Kraft last night but I thought it was pretty entertaining. A couple of points that I thought were interesting in terms of ownership's take on player management, etc.

-Felger argued that the Pats have outstanding talent in the FO and all the financial resources to dominate every single year, but don't spend as much as other teams (like Dallas, NYG) in terms of FAs and locking up top-tier talent like Wilfork, etc. Kraft went down the road of maintaining a balance of having flexibility and running a business that is sustainable through the good years and the bad years.

-Felger contends that the Pats should have locked up Asante after the 05 season and accused the Pats of being a penny-wise and a pound foolish, Jonathan totally left his guard down and said (paraphrasing), "We made a personnel decision on Asante...I mean...look at his last game with us (SB 42)......" he then stopped short and started to speak in glowing terms of Asante. From an ownership's perspective, I thought that was a really, really interesting window into what he really thinks.

A noticeable trait that Jonathan has that his father does not is that Jonathan will mix it up, argue a point and battle where as Kraft-Sr. will take the high road and keep the conversation on an even keel.

From a reliable source, I heard that BB and Jonathan wern't on good terms mid-way to late during the 2002 season. BB felt that he needed to go out and upgrade the talent via FA (IE spend money) and Jonathan challenged Bill and basically held the position of, "You built a SB from street-FAs, why can't you do that now?" . Thankfully, Kraft Sr. stepped in and gave BB the green light to go off and get Colvin, Poole, etc. I had heard that JK really pissed off Parcells to no end when Tuna ran things.

All in all, I think Jonathan is a bit more of a fiery personality than Kraft Sr. which can rub people the wrong way sometimes. I know people who can vouch for his business acumen and he is as smart as a whip so from a financial standpoint. IMO the team is in great hands when Kraft-Sr decides to take a step back.

Looking forward to other thoughts from Patriot Nation...

[BelichickFan]

Originally Posted by robertweathers

IMO the team is in great hands when Kraft-Sr decides to take a step back.

I generally agree with that although what you said earlier :

Originally Posted by robertweathers

From a reliable source, I heard that BB and Jonathan wern't on good terms mid-way to late during the 2002 season. BB felt that he needed to go out and upgrade the talent via FA (IE spend money) and Jonathan challenged Bill and basically held the position of, "You built a SB from street-FAs, why can't you do that now?" . Thankfully, Kraft Sr. stepped in and gave BB the green light

Has me a little concerned. It's great that Belichick has won with street FA but he obviously can't do that consistently. Hopefully Jonathan has leaned his lesson in this because Belichick will be in a position that he can just walk away any time he wants if ownership becomes too much of a burden. In the end "you are who you are" and hopefully that's not the Jonathan Kraft who will emerge when his dad is no longer around.

[Sean Pa Patriot]

If the case is that JK and BB were at odds on FA... JK can bring up we broke the bank on Adalius Thomas and look what kind of production that led.. I doubt that there was that much tension, because BB prob would have bolted a while back.. ala parcells.. So if there was it was quickly resolved...

[robertweathers]

Originally Posted by Sean Pa Patriot

If the case is that JK and BB were at odds on FA... JK can bring up we broke the bank on Adalius Thomas and look what kind of production that led.. I doubt that there was that much tension, because BB prob would have bolted a while back.. ala parcells.. So if there was it was quickly resolved...

Another point- from the same source, it was actually Jonathan who lobbied Robert for BB to be hired. Apparantly, Jonathan and BB hit it off very well when he was here in 96.

In the case of the spending, word on the street was that BB was POs thatthat Jonathan was, in Bills assesement, "telling him to shop at Building 19".

[BelichickFan]

Originally Posted by robertweathers

Another point- from the same source, it was actually Jonathan who lobbied Robert for BB to be hired. Apparantly, Jonathan and BB hit it off very well when he was here in 96.

That's fairly well known, Belichick spent a lot of time with Jonathan talking about his thinking on FA, spending money and NFL economics in the new era; in fact Jonathan largely wanted to have Belichick replace Parcells but it was decided they needed a cleaner break from Parcells.

[Patjew]

Jonathan is a very sharp guy in his own right and is very defensive about people thinking that he just rides his dad's coat tails.

[maverick4]

Kraft senior is a rare owner, as good at what he does as Belichick is at coaching.

His son, Junior Kraft, is a lot more like other owners in the league. Less objective, more emotional, less tactful, and apparently got on the wrong side of both Parcells and Belichick (not a good sign).

I hope Bob senior lives until he's 150.

[upstater1]

If there's an implication that Jonathan and Robert aren't on the same page, though, it has to be wrong. The head guy is always the politician, but the next in command is the one who is the mouthpiece. If Jonathan said those things to BB, I'm sure BB knew that Robert was thinking them too.

With a salary cap, I don't understand Felger's argument. Then again, I don't understand NFL finances well, so who knows? I do think owners who look at the NFL as a business are losers--from a fan's eyes. Ralph Wilson made $800 million in 40 years, or 100,000% of his initial money.

The guy should do something for the fans that support that franchise, like sell to Jim Kelly's guys for $150 million less than the franchise worth of $800 million. Kelly's guys think they can sustain the franchise in Buffalo if the debt ceiling is no more than $650 million minus the cash they want to put down.

As a fan, I say Wilson should do it, because after capital gains and estate taxes, that $150 million extra will shrink. Is it really worth depriVing Buffalo of a franchise for $60 million when you made that much $$$?

[Pats726]

I heard a bit of that and Felger was going down the path of spending..and being his always smarmy self...Mazz was on the sideline..clueless...BUT Felger was using I believe the US Today numbers calling it cash spent and pushing his point..without listening at all as to what Kraft was saying.
Frankly, Felger is Tomase with a pretty boy face..and twice as smug..To me he did not listen at all and showed MORE how he really does not undesrtand the facts than anything else..NO surprise to me.
I think he's rude and about as unlikable as anyone in the media..taking jock sniffing to a new high..as he couldn't organize a pee wee team much less anything close to the NFL.
What I thought was funny was that after all this hubub Kraft asked Mazz if sometmie they could talk about baseball and the Sox.

[robertweathers]

Originally Posted by upstater1

If there's an implication that Jonathan and Robert aren't on the same page, though, it has to be wrong. The head guy is always the politician, but the next in command is the one who is the mouthpiece. If Jonathan said those things to BB, I'm sure BB knew that Robert was thinking them too.

No...no implication. IMO it is ownership's job to question management's spending. Not taking BBs side at all. My guess is that it may have gotten a bit more heated than it should have. maybe the Krafts were all worried after laying out the cash for a new stadium and the team being sub-par that year were a bit on-edge. I wish I knew the actual words or context that triggered their animosity.