Battle of the Leaks: Kraft strikes back

[203Pat]

They (whomever that is at this point) really need to nail the GM and offensive staff hirings or this will continue to unravel further. If they really want to leave this personnel department in tact then I will be very nervous.

 

[203Pat]

I still don't believe the Lynch story contradicts Wickersham's story. It was two different time periods and different situations. But I am tired of arguing this point.

And I am sorry, but plenty of reporters have reported bad stories about Kraft. I don't think reporter is siding with Kraft because Kraft is the money man.

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.

 

[upstater1]

I have no doubt that Jonathan is a savvy businessman. I also have no doubt that Belichick mentored a son that is a good coach. Only one seems to be acceptable to some. Envy? I don't know.

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?

 

[The Gr8est]

This organization is a total train wreck. Not even brining Vrabel in for an interview is unforgivable & the Krafts clearly aren’t acting in the best interests of the football team.

There is a total void as to who will be running the draft, which suggests it’s going to be Jonathan making the final calls.

Short of McDaniels coming back as OC & being given the authority to pick the next QB, i don’t see any reason to be optimistic about the future of the team. I rooted for this teat in the 80’s, during the Patrick Sullivan era & this feels exactly the same.

I really really REALLY hope the Pats do not trade up in the 1st round.

 

[upstater1]

For me there's huge difference between letting Brady go and letting Belichick go.
Brady was a player and Bill's a coach. That alone makes a big difference.
Brady was let go without any backup plan in place at all. Kraft had the HC change in place with the new guy already in line.
Brady wanted to finish his career as a Patriot. Bill cares more about Shula's win record than where he coaches.

You're thinking of things in reverse.

You should draft someone like Garoppolo when Brady gets old. It shouldn't be controversial. Here in New England it was. In Green Bay, the fans howled at the waste of a draft pick. The management didn't care. Here it created controversy.

The last thing you should do is have the coach's successor on staff when you're thinking of firing him. I can't think of anything more stupid than that. A lead pipe absolute guarantee of poor results.

 

[upstater1]

This isn't that hard to figure out.

They went to the playoffs with a rookie QB.
They gave Belichick and Mayo 2 extensions, contracting Mayo to take over when Belichick was done.
JMcD leaves and the offense is handed to Fatt Matt and JJ.
The team goes into tank, no one sees it coming.
They bring in BoB to fix the mess on offense.
Mac needs a hug not a hardliner.
4-13.
Bill the GM is fired. Bill the HC and the team mutually agree to separate.
Mayo is contractually made the new coach.

Vrabel's availability doesn't change Mayo's contract.

Your timeline is off.

Mayo was given the extension after last year, not after the playoff game.

This makes the difference because, in the articles we are all talking about, Jonathan is quoted as pushing to fire Belichick after last season.

 

[1960Pats]

I don’t like how this whole thing has been handled and played out so far.

If the Krafts make the Pats into the “Cowboys east”, then they could become unpalatable to follow and easy to walk away from.

What reason would you or anyone else have to think that the Krafts will make the Pats into the Cowboys?

The difference now will be that more than one person will be involved, you know, like they would be on a team. No more my way or the highway ********.

Btw, dumping Tyrannosaurus Bill has me ready to party like these folks...

 

[archstanton543]

You're thinking of things in reverse.

You should draft someone like Garoppolo when Brady gets old. It shouldn't be controversial. Here in New England it was. In Green Bay, the fans howled at the waste of a draft pick. The management didn't care. Here it created controversy.

The last thing you should do is have the coach's successor on staff when you're thinking of firing him. I can't think of anything more stupid than that. A lead pipe absolute guarantee of poor results.

Whatever. It's all in the past. We'll see how the Mayo thing plays out.

 

[upstater1]

I still don't believe the Lynch story contradicts Wickersham's story. It was two different time periods and different situations. But I am tired of arguing this point.

And I am sorry, but plenty of reporters have reported bad stories about Kraft. I don't think reporter is siding with Kraft because Kraft is the money man.

Curran is wed to Kraft. Lazar is. Reiss got his start that way. The media contracts with the Patriots make it this way as well. Surprising you don't see it. You don't think Zo depends on it?

As for Wickersham, this is the kind of stuff generated by his story: Bill Belichick reportedly offered Tom Brady to the 49ers before settling on the Jimmy Garoppolo trade

This was all over the place after Wickersham

 

[203Pat]

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.

 

[Rob0729]

Curran is wed to Kraft. Lazar is. Reiss got his start that way. The media contracts with the Patriots make it this way as well. Surprising you don't see it. You don't think Zo depends on it?

As for Wickersham, this is the kind of stuff generated by his story: Bill Belichick reportedly offered Tom Brady to the 49ers before settling on the Jimmy Garoppolo trade

This was all over the place after Wickersham

One last one since this is new info. This isn't from Lynch. It is a second report from a Bleacher Report writer about what happened between. But this backs up the current Wickersham report that Belichick wanted to move on from Brady for years before Brady left. This report states that Belichick wanted to trade away Brady in 2017.

But I find this report a little bogus. First, Lynch said he asked to trade for Brady only six months earlier and Belichick laughed at him. You mention that many times. Why would Belichick want to trade him AND Lynch not want Brady six months later. Second, if Belichick was ready to part with Brady and make Garoppolo the franchise QB, why would Belichick only give up Garoppolo for a second round pick? It doesn't make sense.

But you still have yet to produce anything that Lynch himself contradicts Wickersham.

 

[cmasspatsfan]

I don't know much about Bill's dad, but it seems as though he made a great impression on you. That's one of the things I like best about the military is the ability that exists to affect lives in a positive way. I'm not sure Bill has that same quality. I've heard too many complaints about him that I've never heard about his dad

I'll never forget that a HC of my team decided to get rid of the best QB in the history of the game over a few dollars with no backup plan in place. But it's still just a game.

For me there's huge difference between letting Brady go and letting Belichick go.
Brady was a player and Bill's a coach. That alone makes a big difference.
Brady was let go without any backup plan in place at all. Kraft had the HC change in place with the new guy already in line.
Brady wanted to finish his career as a Patriot. Bill cares more about Shula's win record than where he coaches.

I think BB thought TB would crater to what he wanted to give him and Tom would never leave, he blew that one. I've heard this many times from reporters. BB underestimated TB.

 

[upstater1]

One last one since this is new info. This isn't from Lynch. It is a second report from a Bleacher Report writer about what happened between. But this backs up the current Wickersham report that Belichick wanted to move on from Brady for years before Brady left. This report states that Belichick wanted to trade away Brady in 2017.

But I find this report a little bogus. First, Lynch said he asked to trade for Brady only six months earlier and Belichick laughed at him. You mention that many times. Why would Belichick want to trade him AND Lynch not want Brady six months later. Second, if Belichick was ready to part with Brady and make Garoppolo the franchise QB, why would Belichick only give up Garoppolo for a second round pick? It doesn't make sense.

But you still have yet to produce anything that Lynch himself contradicts Wickersham.

Um, I know. I'm saying it's entirely wrong. It's generated by the Wickersham article.

We have to remember something here. The Lynch interview didn't happen for another 3 years. This is what everyone was going on.

Wickersham is adamant that Kraft stepped in during October of 2017, but not before. He details Brady's meeting with Kraft in October, after which Kraft spoke to Belichick. Kraft outs his foot down against trading Brady in October, according to Wickersham. 3 years later Lynch opens up that the first conversation about trading Brady happened in Spring of 2017, long before October.

I will also say that the earlier story about Belichick wanted to trade Brady in 2014 is based on 3 things.

1. Drafting Garoppolo (which is an obvious succession plan for Brady. It's also a normal thing teams do).
2. A study Belichick showed Kraft about how QBs fall off the cliff. Brady was 37 at the time. Again, this is normal
3. A conversation with Brady's QB coach Tom House, which was wildly misinterpreted by people.

These 3 things caused people to jump to conclusions. The first 2 are just normal operations, what you want your general manager to do. The third thing was a joke, Brady was right there WITH House, and Belichick also wanted to know what House was doing to extend Tom's longevity.

People are reaching here.

They also can't criticize him for both having a plan and NOT having a plan.

 

[Stu Pidassle]

The ultimate nepo- hire that doesn't seem to bother anyone is none other than Jonathan "Lord Farquhar" Kraft.
He will erode any success by his presence and sticking his metal gauntlet clad fingers into situations that just don't need him involved.

We may need a poll to determine what nickname we should use for Jonathan. So far I have seen "Little Jerry Jones", "Big Pat Sullivan" and now "Lord Farquar". Is there consensus?

 

[cmasspatsfan]

We may need a poll to determine what nickname we should use for Jonathan. So far I have seen "Little Jerry Jones", "Big Pat Sullivan" and now "Lord Farquar". Is there consensus?

Wasn't long ago the majority of the board wanted Jonathan to take control, especially during deflategate.

 

[venecol]

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.

Why not?

1. The entire IBWT team wanted to run it back w/ Bill = keep everything the same.

2. But Bill the GM was the problem (you agree).

3. You can't get rid of Bill the GM w/o getting rid of Bill the HC too.

4. Thus, needed to get rid of Bill.

Seems like sound logic to me. Obviously, regardless of the HC, the offense needed fixing. That would've been the case either way. Now there's a better chance of success w/o having Bill running interference.

 

[festy1986]

Why not?

1. The entire IBWT team wanted to run it back w/ Bill = keep everything the same.

2. But Bill the GM was the problem (you agree).

3. You can't get rid of Bill the GM w/o getting rid of Bill the HC too.

4. Thus, needed to get rid of Bill.

Seems like sound logic to me. Obviously, regardless of the HC, the offense needed fixing. That would've been the case either way. Now there's a better chance of success w/o having Bill running interference.

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?

 

[Steve102]

Why not?

1. The entire IBWT team wanted to run it back w/ Bill = keep everything the same.

 

[Hyped]

When I first read about the bat, I pictured Al Capone going to a meeting with a big Louisville Slugger ready to hammer someone.

I wouldn't have cared if it were a BIG BAT. Hell, Al Groh carried a shovel with him back in '96.....that worked then.

 

[venecol]

Mayo has zero long term success here if he doesn't win.

It's a lot to ask this guy to come in here and turn this into a playoff team.

He's way more likely to have two 6 win seasons than a 10 win payoff run.

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.