6/10: Bob Kraft on 'complicated' Brady talks

[JoeSixPat]

I tend to think the thing that may "complicate" things is the prospect of paying out $40 - $50 million in a guaranteed signing bonus on the eve of an NFL Lockout, that would halt any income for Kraft from the NFL.

At the very least that means that Kraft would want to have a good portion of the guaranteed money deferred

Normally that wouldn't be a problem if the NFL were playing under a CBA - Brady deferred guaranteed payments in the past

But if the League isn't playing, Kraft might not have the obligation or ability to pay and Brady could find himself waiting indefinately for portions of his signing bonus.

So I view it as less of a hometown discount issue and more a matter of cashflow during a work stoppage.

 

[mgteich]

You think that Kraft will have no cash flow? You think that he would pay players during a work stoppage?

I believe that the Krafts would still be getting TV money. Also Kraft has lots of sources of income. The loss of stadium revenue will not break Kraft.

I tend to think the thing that may "complicate" things is the prospect of paying out $40 - $50 million in a guaranteed signing bonus on the eve of an NFL Lockout, that would halt any income for Kraft from the NFL.

At the very least that means that Kraft would want to have a good portion of the guaranteed money deferred

Normally that wouldn't be a problem if the NFL were playing under a CBA - Brady deferred guaranteed payments in the past

But if the League isn't playing, Kraft might not have the obligation or ability to pay and Brady could find himself waiting indefinately for portions of his signing bonus.

So I view it as less of a hometown discount issue and more a matter of cashflow during a work stoppage.

 

[mgteich]

Kraft has said absolutely nothing, as is appropriate in the middle of negotiations. As far as the "special realtionship" with Brady and such, I'm sure he made the same comments about Bledsoe.

Kraft on 'complicated' Brady talks - New England Patriots Blog - ESPN Boston

 

[fgssand]

The "speculation" you're complaining about is based upon an alleged source close to Brady. That's something. It's also irrelevant to my posts.

The response of Kraft's gave us nothing. There's nothing wrong with that, but it was a waste of a blog entry.

To me an "alleged source" is worth zero.

To me what Kraft says is meaningful.

Do you think Brady won't be resigned??

 

[Deus Irae]

To me an "alleged source" is worth zero.

"alleged source" is what breaks a lot of stories. I used "alleged" rather than unnamed, that's all. I was anticipating someone deciding to claim that Silver was making up the source and just getting a jump on that.

To me what Kraft says is meaningful.

What Kraft said was nothing at all and about as meaningless as it gets. He could have talked about lint in his shoe for all the new football information that was gleaned. He specifically said:

it’s not something we’re going to discuss in the media

I don't know how much clearer people need it.

Do you think Brady won't be resigned??

I've made it clear, on other threads, that I expect Brady will remain a member of the Patriots, one way or another.

 

[BradyFTW!]

To me an "alleged source" is worth zero.

To me what Kraft says is meaningful.

Do you think Brady won't be resigned??

What Kraft says is meaningful. And Kraft said nothing. Outright said that he was saying nothing, because he won't talk about it to anyone that isn't actively involved in the negotiations.

 

[Joker]

"alleged source" is what breaks a lot of stories. I used "alleged" rather than unnamed, that's all. I was anticipating someone deciding to claim that Silver was making up the source and just getting a jump on that.

what was Tomase's "source" the week before the Super Bowl with the Giants? "Alleged" or "unnamed"?

 

[Ring 6]

This is what Silver actually wrote.

some people close to Brady feel the organization isn’t displaying much urgency toward ensuring the latter. Conversely, the Patriots’ brass, now experiencing a third consecutive offseason in which their California-raised quarterback has spent a sizeable chunk of time away from the team’s facility, would probably welcome some assurances that the quarterback is content to remain on the East Coast.

It says less than what Kraft said.

The first part, the 'source' only says that 'some people close to Brady' which could be defined many way feel the organization isn't displaying urgency.
It seems the article is attempting to stretch that into BRADY feeling that way, which the article almost rules out, because it would have said that some pep[;e close to Brady say that TOM doesnt feel the urgency.
Essentially, it would appear Silver asked someone somehow associated wioth Brady if THEY FELT the organization was showing urgency and they said they did not.
Silver gos on to speculate that the Patriots are pobably unhappy with Brady's spending time on the west coast. The manner of writing that sentence in the context it is in is clearly to infer that there are bad feelings in the other direction as well.

It wold seem that what we have in total is Silver asking acquaintances at some level of Tom Brady whether THEY feel urgency coming from the Pats toward the negotiations, and of course they said no, since there really can be no urgency due to the circumstances, followed by a sp[ecualitve rumor that the team must not be happy with Bradys living arrangements.

Wrap it all up, and call it a disconnect between the most successful team of the just completed decade and the most successful player of that decade and you attract readers and your article gets circulated.
​

 

[mojocaster.com]

"I have a pony, and it likes carrots." would have sufficed to give the same level of new and pertinent information about the contract situation.

best post of the day right there

 

[ctpatsfan77]

I wouldn't be saying that if I was you. There is still a decent chance that when Brady hits his late 30s or early 40s and he wants to continue to play that the Patriots may decide to move on like the Packers did with Brett Favre.

Remember, though, that the Packers decided to move on after a couple of years of the Favre Annual Retirement Tango.

I would hope that Brady has more respect for the Krafts, for BB, and for his teammates than to put them through that.

 

[BPF]

Kraft has said absolutely nothing, as is appropriate in the middle of negotiations. As far as the "special realtionship" with Brady and such, I'm sure he made the same comments about Bledsoe.

I believe he still has a special relationship w/Bledsoe. He also signed Bledsoe to a then record 10-yr, $103 mil contract in March of 2001. Trading Bledsoe was a football decision so I don't follow your comment.

 

[BPF]

In summary, what Kraft said is as meaningful/meaningless as what Irsay, Polian, Silver and Tucker all said/wrote. Brady and Manning will both have new deals sometime in the next calendar year, as will Drew Brees.

 

[tuckeverlasting]

I wouldn't be saying that if I was you. There is still a decent chance that when Brady hits his late 30s or early 40s and he wants to continue to play that the Patriots may decide to move on like the Packers did with Brett Favre.

if brady did move on in his late 30's, i'd compare it more to montana. my hope is that he retires a patriot.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

No surprise or real news.

It's a negotiation with millions of dollars and how the franchise functions for the next several years at stake. So, there's a lot on the table and they're negotiating. That's what both Brady and Kraft are saying.

One thing that interested me was Kraft's choice of words. He referred to "the problem" and then called it "the issue." He was doing a radio interview and so wasn't just caught in a corridor or going into a dinner, so presumably he'd thought about what he was going to say. There's something specific that they're trying to work through.

If we go back to what Brady said the other day, it sounded similar: "...there's nothing anyone can solve, other than the team and myself..."

But, again, no surprise. A lot of money. A lot of future plans for the team and the QB.

 

[TimU]

Bottom line: there is a little bit of daylight between Tom Brady and the Patriots right now. You cannot read Tom's and Kraft's comments and conclude otherwise. That did not used to be the case. I wonder how this happened.

 

[BSR]

People are really missing the key phrase:

I think we both want to solve the problem

Both sides want to have a deal done, meaning a deal will get done. There is nothing else to read into it. They are negotiating the terms. That's it. People need to relax and stop trying to read a negative into every word.

 

[JoeSixPat]

You think that Kraft will have no cash flow? You think that he would pay players during a work stoppage?

I believe that the Krafts would still be getting TV money. Also Kraft has lots of sources of income. The loss of stadium revenue will not break Kraft.

Why on earth would Kraft be paying players during a lock out?

And why on earth would Brady accept portions of a deferred signing bonus knowing that in a lockout he'd not see it?

Last time around Kraft very much wanted or needed Brady to defer portions of his guaranteed money.... and THAT was when the NFL was playing!

You think this time around, on the eve of a work stoppage, he's going to payout the $40 - $60 million upfront, and that the players are expecting to get paid while locked out????!!!!!

So we've got two owners being asked to pay out the biggest signing bonuses in NFL history on the eve of a work stoppage which precludes the players from accepting deferred payments.

That's a problem.

Kraft might be in a different finanical stratosphere than you or I, but then again, you or I wouldn't go out and buy the top of the line BMW a month before we expected to lose our jobs, now would we?

 

[Leave No Doubt]

People are really missing the key phrase:



Both sides want to have a deal done, meaning a deal will get done. There is nothing else to read into it. They are negotiating the terms. That's it.

That's how I took it also:confused2: These long offseasons need to just stop.

 

[patfanken]

There are SOOOOO many things complicating this potential deal OTHER than the usual how much and how long. The whole 30% thing, the CBA, or lack of CBA, etc. One of the prime requirements of a successful business is knowing your cost of doing business. Without a CBA no owner in the NFL can know his operating costs going forward.

I've been a union man all my life. From the Teamsters, when I worked a summer job in a tire warehouse to Boston Teachers Union. I actually have had experience in a Strike (twice). But for the life of me, I CANNOT understand WHY this deal can't be resolved.

I mean since the cap started player salaries have MORE than quadrupled from top to bottom. The time players need to get to FA has shrunk. I mean, good rookies are almost universally getting new deals after only 3 years in the league. In 2005 $10MM for a guy like Manning and Brady was kind of a shock, yet a mere 5 years later and $20MM is the expectation.

Someone should take these players aside and let the know that THINGS ARE GOOD!!!!! They have the best situation of any professional football players in HISTORY!!!!!....and that's with the old CBA. BUT NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! (thank you steve martin). They want to squeeze the last dime out of owners who have put up hundreds of millions to get into the game, and risk the game itself, instead of concentrating on important issues like the helping the players who founded the game as we know it, improving equipment and playing fields, better medical/health care, and preparation for "retirement" in their early 30's.

In my opinion, this brinksmanship and claims and counterclaims are BULL SH!T.

 

[Rob0729]

if brady did move on in his late 30's, i'd compare it more to montana. my hope is that he retires a patriot.

My personal wish is that he retires a Patriot, but if he truly plans to play until he is 40 or beyond we cannot know what the future holds since his skills could have declined too much by then, Belichick could be gone, and the Pats may have found the next Brady already and at 25 is too great to pass up.