Battle of the Leaks: Kraft strikes back

[lancerman]

Amazing some people still believe Curran and Wickersham don't know what theyre talking about when both have been proven to be right far more often than not lately.

They haven't been 100% correct on everything, but they have been far more correct than the people who rushed out over the years to say they were making stuff up and full of it. It's pretty clear Curran has a source in the org and that Wickersham was probably getting fed from Brady's camp back in 2017

 

[festy1986]

Nope. There's been a pattern since 2016 that the team spending the most in FAcy guaranteed $$ has an avg. of +5.3 more wins that season.

Given the Pats are the least talented team out of the top 4 in cap space, I expect Kraft to go crazier than '21. That means at the very least, Pats will get 9 to 10 wins in '24. Probably enough to get a WC.

This obviously depends on the yields of the draft. Only 2 teams have top 3 picks and top 4 in cap space: WAS and Pats. WAS has a hell of a lot more talent on offense than the Pats. Pats should be able to bring in top elite WR/TE talent in FAcy. Sign a decent bridge vet QB.

The #1 goal is hitting on the draft. Nothing else matters (coaches). Get your QB w/ #3 or move up to #1 to get your guy or WAS will.

Unless they take care of offense and specifically QB, they're not coming close to 10 wins as your stat would allude to.

 

[Sam Bam Cunningham]

About Belichick's son, optics do matter. I can care less about people being presentable. I don't care about cut off hoodies, etc. I don't make fun of Mike McDaniel's capris. But there is something notable about Steve. I know mullets are in, but not for men that want to be thought of as possessing some gravitas. I know Rob Ryan had one, but not Rex Ryan, and look who got to be the head coach. All this over a haircut? Well, it's more than that. I mean, what in the world?

If mcdaniels capris are ok then SB’s mullet is fine also

 

[Ross12]

...and they never thought that it wasn't going in the right direction when they did the extensions. Draft a rookie, go to playoffs... train keeps rolling. Bill get's an extension, breaks the record in 2024 and Mayo ascends in 2025.

Yeah that is pretty much the simplest way to put it. 2021 made it all look like things were right on track. Even if they weren't Super Bowl bound, they were a playoff team and going in the right direction. They just came off a 10 win season. Bill would definitely get the record by the end of the 2024 season as long as he won an average of 9 games per year going forward in 2022, 2023 and 2024 including the playoffs, which seemed extremely reasonable for Bill. Unfortunately, that didn't happen, as McDaniels left right after that 10 win season, took much of the staff with him, and the team slipped to 8 wins in 2022 and then only 4 wins in 2023. So Kraft was faced with either extending Bill another 1 or 2 years or cutting bait early. I think he probably made the right call.

 

[ralmat55]

It doesn't. Upstater is from the Andy school of arguing. State your opinion as fact over and over again and never back it up with any factual evidence.

It’s a Bill fanboy specialty. Blame must be deflected from him using all logical gymnastics needed. Their whole reason for being requires Bill to be perfect without blemish or blame.

 

[zimmy]

It's pretty clear from these reports that are following are more than likely to be true:

1. The Krafts had been tired of Belichick for some time. This was tolerated when he was producing results but not when he wasn't.
2. Belichick still has his fast ball as a coach but made massive errors on the personnel side - how he set up his coaching staff, his failure to address the brain drain in the front office, and his failure to put a quality roster in place - particularly succession planning in key positions.
3. While Bill may have failed by himself, the Krafts set him up to fail this year with the Mayo extension in particular. But changing the unspoken contract between Bill and them (on football decisions) was also a contributing factor. Then they hung him out to dry the last half of the season.
4. The Krafts seem to think that Bill is solely responsible for the problems the last few years. Running back the same old faces indicates that. There is another possible Brady moment for them coming - if Bill goes and starts winning somewhere else and their unusual front office set-up doesn't pan out, they are going to come in for a lot of criticism.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

It's hard for me to imagine a scenario where you fire Bill, keep everything else the same and move Mayo to HC and things just magically get better.

Does anyone really believe Bill was the problem? We know Bill the GM was the problem but keeping his system and his guys in place sans him is somehow gonna work?

Mayo is ****ed.

Everything else is not the same. RK is the GM now, like Jerry Jones.

 

[Wax Frog]

if Bill goes and starts winning somewhere else and their unusual front office set-up doesn't pan out, they are going to come in for a lot of criticism.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

It's pretty clear from these reports that are following are more than likely to be true:

1. The Krafts had been tired of Belichick for some time. This was tolerated when he was producing results but not when he wasn't.
2. Belichick still has his fast ball as a coach but made massive errors on the personnel side - how he set up his coaching staff, his failure to address the brain drain in the front office, and his failure to put a quality roster in place - particularly succession planning in key positions.
3. While Bill may have failed by himself, the Krafts set him up to fail this year with the Mayo extension in particular. But changing the unspoken contract between Bill and them was also a contributing factor. Then they hung him out to dry the last half of the season.
4. The Krafts seem to think that Bill is solely responsible for the problems the last few years. Running back the same old faces indicates that. There is another possible Brady moment for them coming - if Bill goes and starts winning somewhere else and their unusual front office set-up doesn't pan out, they are going to come in for a lot of criticism.

You forgot that the Krafts are heavly involved in personnel and coaching decisions unlike the previous "Bill has total control" reports. Bill wanted to move on from Mac, and the Krafts wanted Mac to stay. Mac stayed, therefore the Krafts were and are pulling the strings on all major decisions including on field decisions.

 

[festy1986]

Everything else is not the same. RK is the GM now, like Jerry Jones.

Which is the worst case scenario but they denied this yesterday through their mouth piece Curran.

 

[Rob0729]

It's pretty clear from these reports that are following are more than likely to be true:

1. The Krafts had been tired of Belichick for some time. This was tolerated when he was producing results but not when he wasn't.
2. Belichick still has his fast ball as a coach but made massive errors on the personnel side - how he set up his coaching staff, his failure to address the brain drain in the front office, and his failure to put a quality roster in place - particularly succession planning in key positions.
3. While Bill may have failed by himself, the Krafts set him up to fail this year with the Mayo extension in particular. But changing the unspoken contract between Bill and them was also a contributing factor. Then they hung him out to dry the last half of the season.
4. The Krafts seem to think that Bill is solely responsible for the problems the last few years. Running back the same old faces indicates that. There is another possible Brady moment for them coming - if Bill goes and starts winning somewhere else and their unusual front office set-up doesn't pan out, they are going to come in for a lot of criticism.

I still don't know if Belichick has his fast ball as a head coach. I still think he is the best at developing game plans, but this team has be undisciplined for a while and some of his in game decisions are head scratchers. It could be that him choosing to have such a small staff and undermanning the offense forcing him to spend more time there has stretched him to thin. But that is on him.

And Belichick's success or failure elsewhere will depend on where he goes. If he goes somewhere where most of the pieces are in place, he could be a contender right away. If the coaches get fired in Dallas and/or Philly and he goes to one of those teams and is very successful right away, I don't know if you can say that this is proof that Belichick wasn't the problem here since he inherited a stacked team in these cases.

 

[XLIX]

Everything else is not the same. RK is the GM now, like Jerry Jones.

Atrocious analogy.

Has RK signed anyone? Drafted anyone? Or are we in a League-wide dead period for signings (and the draft) and we are barely 1 week removed from firing the last GM and the position is in the process of being filled, but certain procedures must be followed which take time?

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

Which is the worst case scenario but they denied this yesterday through their mouth piece Curran.

Wickersham reported BB wanted to move on from Mac and the Krafts insisted on keeping Mac - that is a GM decision. Let's hope a GM is appointed. We will see ......

 

[festy1986]

Wickersham reported BB wanted to move on from Mac and the Krafts insisted on keeping Mac - that is a GM decision. Let's hope a GM is appointed. We will see ......

Well yes. They're are two conflicting reports here.

All I know is if the Krafts are gonna get involved in the player side then we're in some deep ****.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

Atrocious analogy.

Has RK signed anyone? Drafted anyone? Or are we in a League-wide dead period for signings (and the draft) and we are barely 1 week removed from firing the last GM and the position is in the process of being filled, but certain procedures must be followed which take time?

Signing anyone? Stop it. Does the decision maker have to follow through with the detailed signings?

It is reported that the Krafts wanted to keep Mac for Y3 when BB wanted to move on. Mac stayed. BB obviously did not have full control. Have you seen the video where Kraft said that the drafting process/procedure in-house has changed implying BB was not in full control anymore? I think it was 2020 or 2021.

When the personnel guys can not agree, or the coaches (Mayo) and the personnel people can not agree, who do you think is going to break the impass?

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

Well yes. They're are two conflicting reports here.

All I know is if the Krafts are gonna get involved in the player side then we're in some deep ****.

It is generally understood that the Krafts insisted on keeping Mac. That is making player decisions.

 

[rogerthat]

It is abundantly clear Curran has been handpicked to be Mayo's voice, his promotor, and his defender.
And it is in the Krafts' best interests to elevate their chosen one by managing public perception of the decision and their candidate.
Clearly both the Kraft and Mayo camps have Curran on their speed dial.
I guess Tom Brady Sr's speed dial ranking has nose-dived on the Curran phone network
Same for Don Yee and Alex the Glute masseuse

I remember Curran answering a question years ago about his relationship with Mayo and he admitted that they were friends.

 

[venecol]

Because Mayo isn't going to be even a tenth the coach Bill was.

So anyone think we didn't take a major hit there?

Nobody knows that. These younger ex-player coaches seem to know how to inspire the modern players, something that clearly Bill was no longer able to do.

 

[venecol]

Unless they take care of offense and specifically QB, they're not coming close to 10 wins as your stat would allude to.

Of course, I said that. That's where the >70M in cap space and the #3 pick come in.

I'm just telling you, since 2016, EVERY team that spent the most during FAcy won +5.3 wins that season. I think you can guess why.

 

[venecol]

It doesn't. Upstater is from the Andy school of arguing. State your opinion as fact over and over again and never back it up with any factual evidence.

Upstater is actually worse than Andy because he outright lies and repeats it over and over as fact. He's stated >20 times that Brady met Ross in a boat before the 2019 season started when he knows that's a flat out lie.