will the Pats spend?

[rkarp1]

I have long complained that the knocks on RK or JK have been misplaced, when it comes to contracts.
I simply do not see them involved in day to day deals, other than for top of roster/top of market out lays. even that, they are kept in the loop rather than driving the bus.
before Wolf/Vrabel/Cowden, Bill had 100% total control of every deal.
"the Krafts are cheap" is commonly posted here.
is it the Krafts? or was it Bill?

before Bill arrived;

Drew Bledsoe (QB): Signed a massive seven-year, $42 million contract in 1995 that made him the highest-paid player in the NFL at the time.

Ty Law (CB): Signed a seven-year, $51 million extension in 1999. The deal featured a $14 million signing bonus, briefly making him the highest-paid defensive player in NFL history

Willie McGinest (DE/LB): Signed a five-year, $25 million extension in 1997.

Ted Johnson (LB): Signed a five-year, $25 million extension in August 1998. The deal was highly competitive with the league's top-paid linebackers

Ben Coates (TE): Signed a six-year, $18 million extension in 1996.

Terry Glenn (WR): Signed a six-year, $33.6 million contract extension in 1999. The deal included an $11.5 million signing bonus

after Bill arrived;
Brady, Solder, Welkie, Mal Butler, Samuel, AdamV, Vince, Mankie..all left over money

Bill made uber smart roster decisions. Bill made shrewd free agency decisions. Bill had the golden touch for almost 2 decades. Bill also had Brady to bail him out.
Post Brady, everything Bill touched, failed.
but "Kraft is cheap"? the numbers do not back that up.
"Bill was smart". "Bill made those financial decisions" should be the rhetoric.

 

[TommyD4207]

I have long complained that the knocks on RK or JK have been misplaced, when it comes to contracts.
I simply do not see them involved in day to day deals, other than for top of roster/top of market out lays. even that, they are kept in the loop rather than driving the bus.
before Wolf/Vrabel/Cowden, Bill had 100% total control of every deal.
"the Krafts are cheap" is commonly posted here.
is it the Krafts? or was it Bill?

before Bill arrived;

Drew Bledsoe (QB): Signed a massive seven-year, $42 million contract in 1995 that made him the highest-paid player in the NFL at the time.

Ty Law (CB): Signed a seven-year, $51 million extension in 1999. The deal featured a $14 million signing bonus, briefly making him the highest-paid defensive player in NFL history

Willie McGinest (DE/LB): Signed a five-year, $25 million extension in 1997.

Ted Johnson (LB): Signed a five-year, $25 million extension in August 1998. The deal was highly competitive with the league's top-paid linebackers

Ben Coates (TE): Signed a six-year, $18 million extension in 1996.

Terry Glenn (WR): Signed a six-year, $33.6 million contract extension in 1999. The deal included an $11.5 million signing bonus

after Bill arrived;
Brady, Solder, Welkie, Mal Butler, Samuel, AdamV, Vince, Mankie..all left over money

Bill made uber smart roster decisions. Bill made shrewd free agency decisions. Bill had the golden touch for almost 2 decades. Bill also had Brady to bail him out.
Post Brady, everything Bill touched, failed.
but "Kraft is cheap"? the numbers do not back that up.
"Bill was smart". "Bill made those financial decisions" should be the rhetoric.

Those are the flash numbers.
The details in every contract, is deferred money, performance-laden nonsense, mind you, every contract that has any real money attached to it in the press release.

It's good business, sure, but it's a mentality and a directive sent down from the top. Nickel and dime. Balogna sandwiches. Spray paint the used plane you got with the team colors, looks great on TV, but anyone over 6' doesn't have leg room.

When Bob Kraft was the plucky underdog, saving his pennies to buy the parking lot, and then the stadium, and eventually the team, this mentality was rightfully applauded and lauded.

The team is now worth 9 billion dollars, at least. Bob Kraft has made his initial investment back 400x over.

Team was bottom five in real cash spending in the entire league, over the last 5 years, the last 10 years, the last 20 years. This is a top-5 media market in the country, and is consistently in the top-3 in team valuation in the entire league. This has both been with and without Bill Belichick as coach and de-facto GM. They went on a 'sign your own players' bender ahead of the 2024 season...so they could reach the salary *floor*.

Remember 'How can we possibly afford Steph Diggs at 22 million?' It wasn't. It was one year for 9, and they kicked him to the curb. Over, and over, and over again,

Now, maybe he got sick of losing, and the tide has turned on the top end with free agents, Milton Williams is making real money, cash money, for example. But there will need to be a lot more Milton Williams examples, and a lot fewer Steph Diggs examples, for me to believe that, when there have been far more of the latter over the last 35 years, than the former.

For the record, the Red Sox do the same thing. So Kraft is not unique.

 

[Family]

Remember 'How can we possibly afford Steph Diggs at 22 million?' It wasn't. It was one year for 9, and they kicked him to the curb. Over, and over, and over again,

Wrong. Diggs made 19+ in cash.

Team was bottom five in real cash spending in the entire league, over the last 5 years

Wrong.

 

[rkarp1]

just my opinion
almost every statement you made in your post is wrong

 

[BTTA]

The entire Pats' financial future, and ability to spend on players, rests on getting their money back from the 18,000 taxpayers of Foxborough.

 

[rkarp1]

The entire Pats' financial future, and ability to spend on players, rests on getting their money back from the 18,000 taxpayers of Foxborough.

please explain because it does not make any sense

 

[scott99]

I think the Pats will figure out a way to sign Gonzalez & Maye to fair contracts. I don’t think they’ll mess around, it’ll get done.

 

[Wozzy]

The Pats were near last in spending under Bill Parcells and Pete Carroll… it was never a Belichick thing. But spending to the cap is smart, so nobody but the clueless faulted them for that.

Bob got the reputation for “cheap” because of facilities, amenities and overall team conditions. It wasn’t created or even fostered by fans… it was started by players, former players and even a former head coach (Pete) who called him cheap.

When the NFLPA conducts a poll of franchises that are cheap and you rank near dead last repeatedly… maybe it’s time to look inward.

 

[Rob0729]

Bob Kraft has claimed that he has never said no to spending money. I don't how many times people like Felger or Bedard has said that Kraft would never spend his money on X in recent years and then he does.

I think the financial aspect of the NFL is changing. The cap is growing so fast. It will be impossible to know how the Pats will spend over the next few years especially if Jonathan takes over.