To me it is obvious the WW fall out rumor mill touched a nerve with Kraft. This led him to speak off the cuff. While I don't have a problem with a few statements to clarify the Patriots position, something to the effect 'we did offer WW a deal, we wanted WW on our team, comparatively to Denver our offer had advantages, WW decided to take Denver's offer, we absolutely were disappointed', I think he needed to temper his wording and keep it dry and succinct. But he let, to a modest extent, his emotions do the talking. As an owner -- especially as the owner of the automaton like Patriots -- he cannot allow himself to be caught up in his emotions when talking with the press. It was ill advised (IMHO) to speak of what will happen to WW with the Broncos.
The one time I wish he would have disregarded the 'say little' rule of the Patriots is with Spygate. He watched a mole hill become K2 yet said nothing. I wish he would have done at minimum what he just did with the WW situation.
With that said, I believe what Kraft is saying. This did not come across as media department created spin control, this was Kraft letting it fly. And it puts to bed the "egos caused WW to leave" or 'Patriots were slapping WW in the face with a flimsy offer' nonsense. The Patriots wanted WW back but were doing what they almost always do, setting a value and largely sticking to it. This how the Patriots do business. On the other hand WW took the offer he felt was best for him..... making a business decision. There simply is no nefarious intentions to be assigned to anyone. It was business. Ultimately who made the better choice (WW, Patriots, neither, both)? Let's chat around Christmas time.
Lastly, I'm a big fan of WW and what he did here, however, he is catching passes from P Manning now. With as little malice intended as possible, here is hoping WW comes down with a serious case of Greasy-Slippery Hands in 2013!
