Wickersham and others drop numerous bombshells on Belichick/Brady relationship

[TommyD4207]

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What happens if the Pats go on a spending spree? Won’t that make it look like Belichick was the one who wouldn’t spend? The Patriots are far more likely to be big spenders than a lot of the teams that Belichick may be on. The Pats have $75 million in cap space with $14 million more when they cut JC Jackson. That would make the Pats with the most cap space in the league.

The Chargers are $35 million over the cap.

The Cowboys are $11 million over the cap ( and Jerruh ain’t giving up GM responsibilities).

The Falcons have $37.7 million. A decent amount of money by today’s standards, but not really enough to go on a spending spree.

The Commanders and Titans have about as much as the Pats, but both have new GMs. The Commanders just hired Adam Peters and the Titans hired Carthon last year. So Belichick won’t get personnel control on those teams.

And the Bengals might franchise Higgins to keep the band together for one more year before they have to let them go. So I am not sure anyone will pay for him.

The Falcons don't need to go on a spending spree. They just need to sign Kirk Cousins to a 3 year deal.

 

[SVN]

Jonathan is a Harvard MBA who cut his teeth working for Bain. He’s a bean counter and a hatchet man. Guys with his pedigree don’t need to know anything about the underlying business. They just need to be able to count heads and dollars and cut to the bone when their counting says there are too many heads and not enough dollars.

firing Bill is Jonathan’s handiwork. Having a succession plan in place with Mayo shows it was planned a year ago, maybe more. Bill laid the groundwork when he didn’t bend his philosophy and pushed Brady out a year early instead of a year late, and this time it wasn’t better.

We didnt see jonathan at the presser yesterday but will surely see him next week. that tells you his role in this,,,

 

[TommyD4207]

We didnt see jonathan at the presser yesterday but will surely see him next week. that tells you his role in this,,,

I never thought I'd live to see the day when another Patriots owner's son was the GM of the team.

Although Pat Sullivan wasn't the worst GM - so maybe they'll be ok.

 

[venecol]

We didnt see jonathan at the presser yesterday but will surely see him next week. that tells you his role in this,,,

Curran's source? That's 100% more likely than Mayo.

 

[TommyD4207]

Curran's source? That's 100% more likely than Mayo.

I think Mayo's been his source since he joined the staff. I think he cajoled the Krafts to hop on as sources during this season.
*That* to me is more likely - the Krafts didn't have any sort of relationship with Curran after the Brady stuff, that would have taken some effort to get that done. Just Jonathan? Maybe, but I'm pretty sure now it was both.

 

[venecol]

I think Mayo's been his source since he joined the staff. I think he cajoled the Krafts to hop on as sources during this season.
*That* to me is more likely - the Krafts didn't have any sort of relationship with Curran after the Brady stuff, that would have taken some effort to get that done. Just Jonathan? Maybe, but I'm pretty sure now it was both.

I mean, I don't even know where to begin on Mayo "cajoled the Krafts." That's just not credible. Krafts don't seem like the types to be easily cajoled into anything.

Mayo had way too much to lose to be leaking sensitive info to Curran. He was already in line for the promotion. The team was ass from the get go. All he had to do was sit back and let it play out. There was no upside for him, only risk.

Krafts otoh had already made up their minds to move on from Bill. The leak would set up the fan base, media into driving the story that Bill was on the hot seat. Notice how after the Steelers win, Curran said, that wouldn't make a difference. Then partially qualified it by saying maybe if they win their last 4, which everyone knew wasn't going to happen (Chiefs/Bills). This made the announcement they were mutually agreeing to part ways less of a surprise and more palatable. It also put Bill on the defense during his negotiations with the Krafts.

It was just hard ball tactics. I don't see anything wrong with it. Their relationship was already fractured and irreparable and they probably thought they needed it to cajole Bill into whatever deal they ended up cutting to show a united front. That's all they really cared about, to cut down on the drama of the break up so it didn't linger into the next phase.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

Mayo is just the fall guy. There simply is next to no talent on offense. It will take at least 2 more years of being a bottom dweller to get some talent, and that is if the Pats draft well. Then after a couple losing seasons, Mayo will take the blame and get fired. It will be the next guy that will be expected to take the Pats back to the promised land.

The IOL will be good next year if they sign Onwenu. Strange, Onwenu, and Andrews are solid. Mafi, Sow, and Andrews will all improve in Y2 and Y3. All set at IOL short and long term. Need two tackles, a WR, and a QB. The Pats have the 2nd most cap space in the NFL. Sign Henry. Sign a WR. Draft a QB and two tackles. With some injury luck the team is not far off. With two reasonable drafts, the Pats are back in it. Pick the wrong QB and it is a different story.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

General question: How can one acknowledge that Tom Sr. hates Belichick and also claim with a straight face they think Brady doesn’t despise Belichick? Are they taking Tom’s social media and interview niceties about Bill seriously? Tom Sr. is all the evidence you need that there’s a lot of bitterness and this was not a happy “let’s just go our own ways!” split.

Brady has apologized for his Dad more than once. My personality is nothing like my father's. No idea why Tom Sr.'s hate has to become his son's hate. No logic there.

@Sam Bam Cunningham agrees with you which should be a warning sign too.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

Kraft takes way too much crap on this board. Is he perfect, No. But overall he is the best owner in Boston by far.
He is a true Pats fans who bought the team and saved them from moving to St. Louis. He made the momentous decision to hire Belichick.
He funded the stadium mostly with private funds.
Overall he has been pretty hands off as an owner and gave almost complete control to BB.
This town could do a lot worse than Kraft.

If you don't believe me look what that cheapskate John Henry is doing to the Red Sox. He doesn't care at all about the fans or the Sox.

I do not believe you. Wyc Grousbeck is far better. Supports the team, spends money wisely, a true fan, hires great management, and there is no drama because Wyc is a standup guy who does not leak. Kraft is a drama queen, and folded when Goodell confronted him. Kraft is not awful, but not what you seem to imply.

 

[Lagaffe_07]

The Falcons don't need to go on a spending spree. They just need to sign Kirk Cousins to a 3 year deal.

Cousins is going to take a pay cut to stay in Minnesota

 

[aluminum seats]

Kraft's capitulating to BB was disastrous. He let BB damage the Franchise and in the end self destruct.

I have never been impressed by Kraft. His drunken "we are all Patriots" speech in 2001 was cringe. I think his Orchids of Asia debacle cost us the chance to keep Antonio Brown and win another Superbowl in 2019.

His handling of SpyGate, DeflateGate and CameraGate was despicable.

Now he has lost both GOATs. He could have and should have prevented this awful denouement.

This "awful denouement?" So dramatic

Kraft bought a team that was the laughingstock of the league and since then has owned a team that has gone to 10 Super Bowls, winning six of them. Along the way hiring three coaches who have won Super Bowls

You clearly hate the guy, but any by any reasonable objective standard his track record as owner has been tremendous

All this soap opera stuff is comic. Are these things written by children? Has anyone ever been married? Good god, have some perspective, things happen in a long relationship

Brady and Belichick had their differences, but they have mutual respect. Kraft and Belichick are very different people and will never be buddies, but had a relationship that worked for a quarter of a century

Nothing here is all that confusing or strange or upsetting. It was the best run in NFL history. Now we see what happens next.

 

[PaulThePat]

We're on to <insert first 2024 pre-season opponent>

 

[RobertWeathers]

No one should be talking to these people.

The ship has sunk. Make sure the rats which were on it are also dead.

 

[Stu Pidassle]

You've got to give Bob credit for keeping them all together for as long as it lasted though. Imagine having to deal with all three of their egos for 20 years. That's a ****ing long time.

You can probably throw Jonathan on the pile of egos that RKK was dealing with. The conflict provided each with the motivation to do their job. The rush to get the dirt on BB out there to take the heat off the decision to go a new direction makes it tough for fans to feel good about the team. I am afraid that we will be in for another round of crap when BB decides its his turn to air the dirty laundry.

 

[RobertWeathers]

I do not believe you. Wyc Grousbeck is far better. Supports the team, spends money wisely, a true fan, hires great management, and there is no drama because Wyc is a standup guy who does not leak. Kraft is a drama queen, and folded when Goodell confronted him. Kraft is not awful, but not what you seem to imply.

Agree 100%

Kraft has always been a starf***ker.

It took a guy like BB to keep him under control.

I hope Mayo has the ability to keep his boss in line.

 

[RobertWeathers]

You can probably throw Jonathan on the pile of egos that RKK was dealing with. The conflict provided each with the motivation to do their job. The rush to get the dirt on BB out there to take the heat off the decision to go a new direction makes a tough for fans to feel good about the team. I am afraid that we will be in for another round of crap when BB decides its his turn to air the dirty laundry.

Yes this is starting to have a Werner/Henry/Luccino smearing of Tito feel to it.

 

[fightingirish595]

We have a coward owner

 

[Pape]

Curran's source? That's 100% more likely than Mayo.

Tom Currans source is Mayo.

 

[Pape]

You can probably throw Jonathan on the pile of egos that RKK was dealing with. The conflict provided each with the motivation to do their job. The rush to get the dirt on BB out there to take the heat off the decision to go a new direction makes it tough for fans to feel good about the team. I am afraid that we will be in for another round of crap when BB decides its his turn to air the dirty laundry.

agree with everything but the last part. BB isn't the kind of guy to air the dirty laundry, so to speak. At least while he is still active in the NFL. After that, who knows?

If he writes a book, I will be one of the first to pre-order it.

 

[1960Pats]

Kraft is an idiot for taking Bill's word that Brady was in decline. That's Bob's fault. In any case thank goodness its over and we're moving on.

That debate may never go away.

If I'm placing blame I'd give the edge to Bill. He's the one who worked with Brady daily and should have recognized that he wasn't done.