Mike Sando shares what some NFL Execs think about the new NE Pats

[One-If-By-Sea]

I don't think it will be that bad, ownership was a mess back then.

This is the money quote. It’s like Kraft can’t live in a world where he is looked at as the problem. Without BB to dump on, everything is going to fall on RK. The Pats can appoint Wolf as the GM, but everyone is going to look at RK from here on out. I used to think it was on BB, but now it is clear, a lot of it, if not all of it, is on RK. Present ownership might be a mess that TB12 and BB covered up so we did not see it.

 

[Triumph]

Sounds like a few people have been waiting a while to take a shot at Kraft/Patriots.

Reality is we are in the early stages of a multi year rebuild. Let’s see how it plays out.

Kraft was just talking PLAYOFFS this season if ducks line up.

 

[Triumph]

Yup kind of sad but ultimately it falls to Jonathan Kraft soon

Bob Kraft isnt going anywhere soon.

He built this baby up from the ashes of Bill Belichicks tenure and he will see it through.

 

[MrBigglesWorth]

Bob Kraft isnt going anywhere soon.

He built this baby up from the ashes of Bill Belichicks tenure and he will see it through.

How old is he

 

[ohiopatsfan]

i prefer to wait until after the draft, UDFA's and final preseason cuts to evaluate how the team is doing. Right now, I consider the situation as disappointing but still incomplete.

 

[TheRainMaker]

Ridley did them a favor by taking a page out of Derek Mason’s playbook. I really liked him coming out of the draft and in Atlanta until he quit on the team. His production is not worth 3rd in fully guaranteed money.

I certainly don’t like the back tracking by Mayo, but there really wasn’t anyone worth throwing a bunch of cash out to. The contracts some of these good to mediocre players got is what destroys the market for a team that has an elite player ready for an extension.

 

[jimnance]

That's what she said.

So what's the problem?
That sounds like fun

 

[Clonamery]

So what's the problem?
That sounds like fun

That's what she said.

 

[VrabelJr]

Bob Kraft isnt going anywhere soon.

He built this baby up from the ashes of Bill Belichicks tenure and he will see it through.

I’m sorry he — he did what? We haven’t even played a game without BB yet. (Don’t bother replying)

 

[VrabelJr]

Ridley did them a favor by taking a page out of Derek Mason’s playbook. I really liked him coming out of the draft and in Atlanta until he quit on the team. His production is not worth 3rd in fully guaranteed money.

I certainly don’t like the back tracking by Mayo, but there really wasn’t anyone worth throwing a bunch of cash out to. The contracts some of these good to mediocre players got is what destroys the market for a team that has an elite player ready for an extension.

You’ve become a lot more reasonably lately.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

His production is not worth 3rd in fully guaranteed money.

Almost any top level FA will not be worth the money. At some point the team has to ask TB12 to unretire or pay a few FAs top money.

 

[TomPatriot]

That's what she said.

 

[TomPatriot]

Kraft was just talking PLAYOFFS this season if ducks line up.

 

[Triumph]

How old is he

Too old but Venocal and the Homer's like him.

 

[patfanken]

NFL Execs Bury Robert Kraft, Jerod Mayo For Patriots Offseason

The Patriots seemed content with their free agency decisons, but the lack of splash moves have NFL execs pointing fingers at leadership.

nesn.com

The Patriots had a lackluster free agency, and while leadership seemed content with how the offseason played out, those outside of One Patriot Place don’t quite see it the same way

Here we have the same people who had to kowtow to the Pats and the way they did business that allowed them to give their fans an unparalleled 20 seasons of excellent competitive teams. Now, DESPITE the fact that the Pats were in the top 3rd of spenders this FA period, (which is FAR from over, btw) they are being excoriated for not spending enough.

New England came into this offseason as one of the teams with the most cap space. However, head coach Jerod Mayo quickly walked back his “burn some cash” line from his introductory news conference, and the Tennessee Titans beat out the Patriots for Calvin Ridley.

This is why Bill wanted nothing to do with the media. Mayo in ONE interview made an off the cuff remark and it's been repeated over and over again as an example that Mayo isn't in charge like Bill was, and/or, he doesn't know what he's doing.

Owner Robert Kraft told reporters at the annual NFL meetings that New England had a competitive offer for the wide receiver, and he made an audacious claim that Ridley’s “girlfriend” wanted to stay in the South.

Now it's Mayo's fault that the Pats are no longer the attractive franchise that every FA wanted to join because they were winners. That any team that "really" wants a FA can get him. Never mind what the player and his family might think.

The biggest moves the Patriots made involved internal free agents from a team that finished 4-13 last season. Kraft and Mayo maintain optimism for the team, but for a contingent of fans, patience is growing thin.

A payback media and some whining fans who think winning is their birthright and the ebbs a flows of an NFL franchise doesn't apply to them.

NFL executives gave their unfiltered thoughts on every team following free agency to The Athletic’s Mike Sando, and in a column published Wednesday, it was a brutal assessment.

“Kraft mentions the (state income) taxes, the quarterback, the player’s girlfriend and then he mentioned the money,” an exec told Sando. “The reality is, if the dollar net taxes was higher in New England than in Tennessee, they would have gotten the player. It’s like Kraft can’t live in a world where he is looked at as the problem.”

Please read the quote. It makes ZERO sense. "if the taxes were "higher" then they would have gotten their man." Beyond being the opposite, his "interpretation" of Kraft's remark to mean "it's not my fault" is simply ludicrous

Blame on the state of facilities was placed on ownership, and after Kraft mentioned he had not heard of the complaints stated in the NFL Players Association report card, he revealed there would be plans to amend those concerns. However, the state of the roster confused an NFL executive heading into the 2024 NFL Draft.

The owner has publicly noted that he has taken the player's "report card" seriously and they are working on the issues. What more do you want him to do.

“The head coach came out early in the offseason and said, ‘We have a lot of money to spend, and we are going to spend it,’” another exec told Sando. “Then he had to walk the comment back. Then they lose out on the receiver after their GM says they have no speed on offense. So you have the two highest appointed people in the organization saying they are going to spend and they are going to prioritize speed, and then they do neither. What the hell?

Again, a very LOOSE interpretation of the off the cuff remark by Mayo (who has now learned a great lesson that Bill learned when he was in Cleveland.) Sounds like this "executive" isn't a fan of Kraft OR how they do business.

There might be a group of Patriots fans asking the same question since New England hasn’t done much to be better than it was last season. Those sentiments could change depending on what happens in the 2024 NFL Draft, but it’s clear there isn’t much confidence in Kraft and Mayo following free agency.

Great T, another example of your self-flagellation. In your hatred of the Krafts, you never let pass a chance to make Pats fans feel bad about their owner and team. BTW- since 2020 the Pats have spent the 8th most on FA over 335MM for those keeping count.

And the end result of this FA period was we took one shot at an "elite" WR and didn't get the guy. (who is also a guy who has more than a few red flags himself) What a shock. There is a reason why its called FREE agency. The ball is in the players court.

I wish we had gotten TSmith, but the fact is, if all things were equal, if I was looking for a team to play with in the final years of your career, who would YOU pick, the Jets or us?

Wolfe, Kraft, and Mayo are working with the cards that they were dealt. NEXT year it could be en entirely different scenario.

 

[Ghost of Ben Dreith]

I really don't care what the GM's of the Cardinals, Jest, Browns and Bears have to say about how the Pats conducted the free agency period.
From the comments I'm not convinced they were GMs.....probably just some board members here catfishing him.

 

[maust]

That's what she said.

Yes, she did...

 

[Hyped]

"NFL Execs".........

I love it. They are the exact people we want to confound in order to keep a step ahead.

 

[raduray]

. “The reality is, if the dollar net taxes was higher in New England than in Tennessee, they would have gotten the player. It’s like Kraft can’t live in a world where he is looked at as the problem.”

I'd rather they not overspend and carry over the unspent cap to future years when they would hopefully have fixed foundational issues through the draft.

 

[goheels22002]

OMG. It's the first week of April and we've got five months to go before the final cut down day. We have no idea what the opening day roster will look like.