Who took the bigger risk (for the Patriots)?

[XLIX]

You have an owner and a head coach who each want their asses kissed and want more credit than either of them are due.

Kraft took a big risk hiring Belichick, but every HC hire in the NFL is a big risk.
Belichick took a big risk coming to NE, but it also would have been a big risk to take the NYJ job.

And ultimately they are 2 F'ING ASSHOLES who stumbled ass backwards into the GOAT and neither of whom have an ounce of success as owner or as HC without the aforementioned GOAT.

 

[Boomer B]

You have an owner and a head coach who each want their asses kissed and want more credit than either of them are due.

Kraft took a big risk hiring Belichick, but every HC hire in the NFL is a big risk.
Belichick took a big risk coming to NE, but it also would have been a big risk to take the NYJ job.

And ultimately they are 2 F'ING ASSHOLES who stumbled ass backwards into the GOAT and neither of whom have an ounce of success as owner or as HC without the aforementioned GOAT.

 

[lancerman]

This is stupid, they both took risks. Bill really couldn't afford to fail after Cleveland and especially after spurning the Jets. Kraft at the time was on the last stretch of Bledsoe's prime years and just had Parcells ditch him and Carroll flame out. He also had a **** ton of money tied up into the team.

The only major contributor not risking anything was Brady because he had no choice over who drafted him and he had really nothing to lose.

 

[Sect140]

I voted RLKAG, Kraft just needs to shut the f*ck up and maybe he’ll get into the HOF. Why do I think it was Bill’s intern/girlfriend replying back.

 

[Steve102]

Belichick made it sound like the Jets were the less risky option:

Bill resigned as HC from the NYJ on a flippin' napkin because it was a chit job. Anything he says about it being less risky is revisionist and an attempt to control the narrative because he's mad a RKK.

I'm over both of these old grumpy effs. We are on to Vrabel.

 

[Steve102]

You have an owner and a head coach who each want their asses kissed and want more credit than either of them are due.

Kraft took a big risk hiring Belichick, but every HC hire in the NFL is a big risk.
Belichick took a big risk coming to NE, but it also would have been a big risk to take the NYJ job.

And ultimately they are 2 F'ING ASSHOLES who stumbled ass backwards into the GOAT and neither of whom have an ounce of success as owner or as HC without the aforementioned GOAT.

While you're not wrong, Bill deserves credit for sticking with Brady when conventional wisdom and tradition nearly dictated that Bledsoe return to the starting lineup.

We've since learned that RKK would've fired Bill if things didn't turn out the way they did. We are all lucky that Tom Brady turned into the GOAT after being pick #199. I agree that they (Bill and RKK) wouldn't have had the success they did without Brady, but let's not pretend that Brady walked onto the field that September day in 2001 and was who he'd end up being. Everyone involved with getting him coached up along the way deserves some credit. The lions share goes to the player, because in Bill's own words, "Players play. It's a player's game."

.And... you're 100% right they both should STFU.

 

[203Pat]

Bill resigned as HC from the NYJ on a flippin' napkin because it was a chit job. Anything he says about it being less risky is revisionist and an attempt to control the narrative because he's mad a RKK.

I'm over both of these old grumpy effs. We are on to Vrabel.

Yeah for a job he was allegedly so worried about Bill sure nuked a bridge into cinders in order to take it.

 

[Hugepatsfan]

I don’t think it was his cash to cap philosophy, I think it was the budget he was allowed.

Bill Belichick believes salary cap spending is more important than cash spending

Bill Belichick has once again opened up on his philosophy of cash spending vs. salary cap spending, adding some detail to that statement from January.

www.cbsnews.com

IDK, I think it was part his philosophy too. And at a time, it was smart IMO. Around the last decade or so I think there's been a philosophical shift towards going "all in" on a certain window. Particularly when you have a good QB on a rookie deal or even on an extension since by 2 years into those "mega deals" the market goes so far high they end up still being bargains relatively speaking. I don't think that practice was as widespread during the first half of BB's tenure here so his philosophy was more competitive. By the end, we were just so talent-starved compared to other teams mainly because of poor drafting but also because our spending was so lagging (and that talent deficiency still exists because one good offseason doesn't make it up, IMO).

It did seem by the end though that BB started taking some jabs at Kraft's spending. So maybe he was just walking the company line before with comments like in the article? Or maybe it's some combo of both where that was genuinely his philosophy to start but then as he saw league trends moving he wanted to keep up and Kraft wouldn't let him. But have read some of the books BB co-authored early on and hearing him talk about the cap over the years, I feel pretty strongly that cash to cap was a philosophy of his as well. I think Kraft has cited his alignment with BB on that from chatting with him in '96 as a reason he wanted to take this big risk to hire him anyway.

 

[Rob0729]

I think Kraft took the bigger risk. He gave up a first rounder (and swapped the Pats' 4th for the Jets' 5th and swapped seventh rounders) for Belichick.

Belichick didn't have a reputation as a head coach after Cleveland. And the question is whether Parcells would have stepped down as head coach if Kraft wasn't so hot on Belichick. Maybe he makes Belichick wait another year or indefinitely to take over. And if Parcells stepped down, would Woody have honored the agreement to give Belichick his head coaching job.

But the fact that Kraft gave up a first rounder for Belichick also gave Belichick job security. I know a lot in the media were talking that he was on the hot seat prior to the 2001 season, but I tend to doubt that Kraft would have fired Belichick after that season unless he was a complete disaster.

And even if Belichick stayed in NY, would he have gotten any credit for their success if he made them a Super Bowl team or would Parcells get all the credit as long as he was still in the front office? I am pretty sure Belichick would have gotten the blame if the Jets collapsed in 2001 under his coaching.

 

[ahmed]

You have an owner and a head coach who each want their asses kissed and want more credit than either of them are due.

Kraft took a big risk hiring Belichick, but every HC hire in the NFL is a big risk.
Belichick took a big risk coming to NE, but it also would have been a big risk to take the NYJ job.

And ultimately they are 2 F'ING ASSHOLES who stumbled ass backwards into the GOAT and neither of whom have an ounce of success as owner or as HC without the aforementioned GOAT.

This 100%.

Hiring a coach always carries risk but it's a risk every owner survives as no owner loses their team because of it. However, Bill was not really a hot HC candidate because of his 1st stint either.

Bill took a risk because he pissed off Jets and could have been seen as betrayal by other owners and frowned upon as a result. However, he is lying through his teeth saying it was a worse position than the Jets. He would not have left the Jets if Patriots offer was not better. It was well documented he did not like ownership and management structure and Parcell's potential role in it.

There was really no reason for Bill to respond to this. The pissing contest between these 2 is just pathetic at this point.

 

[Boomer B]

Kraft seems to have an ever present need to diminish Belichick, and now Belichick has let it get under his skin.

If I were to take this seriously, Belichick took the bigger risk but it was the right one. Belichick also had offers from 2 or 3 other teams at the time so it's not like he didn't have prospects. He did. I think without Belichick this franchise would've had problems. You fire Carroll and hire who?

No other teams were going after Belichick. Where did that come from?

 

[Boomer B]

 

[Ring 6]

Bill Belichick believes salary cap spending is more important than cash spending

Bill Belichick has once again opened up on his philosophy of cash spending vs. salary cap spending, adding some detail to that statement from January.

www.cbsnews.com

IDK, I think it was part his philosophy too. And at a time, it was smart IMO. Around the last decade or so I think there's been a philosophical shift towards going "all in" on a certain window. Particularly when you have a good QB on a rookie deal or even on an extension since by 2 years into those "mega deals" the market goes so far high they end up still being bargains relatively speaking. I don't think that practice was as widespread during the first half of BB's tenure here so his philosophy was more competitive. By the end, we were just so talent-starved compared to other teams mainly because of poor drafting but also because our spending was so lagging (and that talent deficiency still exists because one good offseason doesn't make it up, IMO).

It did seem by the end though that BB started taking some jabs at Kraft's spending. So maybe he was just walking the company line before with comments like in the article? Or maybe it's some combo of both where that was genuinely his philosophy to start but then as he saw league trends moving he wanted to keep up and Kraft wouldn't let him. But have read some of the books BB co-authored early on and hearing him talk about the cap over the years, I feel pretty strongly that cash to cap was a philosophy of his as well. I think Kraft has cited his alignment with BB on that from chatting with him in '96 as a reason he wanted to take this big risk to hire him anyway.

He had a cash budget to work with and he maximized what he got out of it with cap management, coaching up young players, signing veterans past their prime on short dollars etc.
He replaced big money long term contracts with large up front cash that reduced the initial cap hits with mid level short term deals that carried higher cap hits to cash.
One of the things people give him a hard time about is top players walking but there is no way he wanted them to walk. He couldn’t fit them into the budget he was given.
One player on 5 year contract for 50 mill with a 15 mill signing bonus counts about 4 mill against the cap in year 1. BB didn’t have the budget to sign as many of those guys as other teams, so he tried to get the last bit out of an aging vet for 4 mill on a 1 year deal, or get UDFAs to perform.

We were last in cash because the cash wasn’t there not because BB chose not to spend it.
The most overlooked feat of the dynasty was building the greatest dynasty ever on a paupers budget, which compared to the other 31 teams, that’s what we had. Dominating a league while having the least money to spend on players (and clearly on facilities too based upon the NFLPA surveys) is the greatest management job in history, done right before our eyes and the fan base largely missed it.

 

[BUSTAMOVE]

RK made 2 pretty good hires per BB in Parcells and Pete. he then trumped them both hiring Bill.
RK then got out of the way and let the football people do football.

Bill was in a sticky situation with the Jets, in the midst of the team selling, and not being able to run his own ship under Parcells.

Nobody wants to work for Woody

 

[sb1]

It was so risky for BB that he couldn’t run fast enough to his new job. Lol

 

[upstater1]

No other teams were going after Belichick. Where did that come from?

None huh?

Not the Raiders, not the Jets?

Back in the 90s Belichick was very highly sought after and highly thought of, no matter his Browns experience. That whole thing went south with what Modell pulled, and Belichick was right about Kosar. The rest of the league knew about the quality. Between his year in New England and his years with the Jets, it was clear he was the same guy that got the Giants D clicking all those years.

 

[signbabybrady]

It was so risky for BB that he couldn’t run fast enough to his new job. Lol

The NFL front office and the courts had to sort some things before he could run.

 

[Pape]

Why do I think it was Bill’s intern/girlfriend replying back.

Chick has a mouth on her, no doubt...

Is it any wonder why hes smitten?

 

[raduray]

Belichick would have taken a bigger risk staying with the Jets, under the thumb of (not hands off) GM Bill Parcells and with an ownership looking to sell the team. You can say Kraft threw him a lifeline.

 

[Patriot Missile]

Bill bet on himself and won big time. He left a head coaching position to come here which at the time there was only 31 of those jobs in the world. That took some guts regardless of what the ownership situation was with Woody.

Bob got what he hoped for from what he experienced with Belichicks time on the defense under Parcells. He definitely made a tough choice on his end given the compensation and Belichicks record in Cleveland.

Safe to say it worked out for the both of them. Thanks in part to a perfect storm with all BB’s coaching expertise with the additions mixing in with the veterans and of course Brady turning out to be a miracle Goat.