Box_O_Rocks

http://www.boston.com/sports/footbal...nto_their_cap/

An excellent read, Kraft and Belichick are two halves of a fine mind. This fan smells dynasty.

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khayos

We're already a dynasty, but it will take another five years for the league to recognize it.

RayClay

Great article. Didn't realize the Krafts were so up on the cap pre Belichick.

Of course it means nothing without precise talent and value evaluation.

Got to know when to hold 'em and fold 'em when it comes to signing or letting certain players go.

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psychoPat

Box_O_Rocks

I'd say it was more of the entire package thing. Bob Kraft had to experience Parcells and Carrol before he realized they didn't see the game with the same appreciation of economic factors he understood to be critical in any business, but was unable to apply himself (I'm sure not without trial and error) within the football talent and team chemistry framework. Once convinced his product was going to be subpar with the Parcells and Carrols of the league, he put it on the line for the one coach he knew to have the skillset he needed to produce a high quality product.

When I read this, it was insight into a number of issues, but at heart is one guy who wanted "his" product to be the best, and once he had enough of a baseline for understanding what "he" needed to do, did it. No obstacle to obtaining what he now knew he needed to make New England the best team in football was too difficult. I don't know how Bob Kraft approached quality control for the products of his other companies, but it's clear his love for the NEP led him into surprising the football world and paying a premium for the coach he knew could apply the economic aspect to the football aspect. We also know who established the character standard that has been so critical to limiting problems with the team.

I will always choose Bob Kraft when I'm polled on the most important man to the NEP franchise.

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njpatsfan

Some people (including many on this board) think that 'good cap management' means that, at the end of Free Agency, they spend exactly to the cap.

This leads some (including our resident capologist) to the fallacy that if a team is under the cap, it is OK to 'overspend' on a player. By that definition, since every team HAS to be under the cap - no deal can be bad. I don't care how much the Browns were under the cap, paying near franchise-LT money for a center is not 'good value', and therefore poor cap management.

This article just confirms what should have been obvious to everybody - the Patriots make decisions based on value. And the value of any transaction is judged not only what that cost to talent ratio is RIGHT NOW, but what it is likely to be down the road.

The operating principal here, of course, is that cost to talent curve is not linear. The upper end of the market is distorted - which is why the Patriots only splurge on two 'franchise' players, and don't rely primarily on free agency to build a team. The Patriots seem adept at identifying and retaining those key players that are on the upper end of the talent curve, but below the steep upswing into non-linearity.

Or course, drafting well (especially in the early rounds) is a huge key to reducing cap pressures - because these guys are the cheapest starters you can get.

There are two other examples of this 'value' principle at work this year. The first happened in the draft, when picks 1-20 went heavily D. Despite needs on D, Belichick went O - because that was where the value was. The result was Maroney and Jackson - who arguably could have been both top 15 picks in other years.

The second example is the Pats action (or lack thereof) in this years FA market. Because of the huge (and unexpected) spike in the cap this year, there was a lot of free money chasing FA's. This resulted in an overheated market, where the number of players lured away to other teams increased by 50%. BB didn't pay the inflated prices to either get or retain FA's. Instead, we went with shrewd trades (like the Gabriel pickup). This strategy will pay dividends in later years.

The interesting thing about this article is the apparent 'shorthand' that the Pats office uses in evaluating - (a 30's guy, a 40-50 guy, etc.). It makes it clear exactly how deep this concept of value is embedded in the organization.

R