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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...
-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...
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