My take on Kraft’s statement at the ownership meetings.

[1960Pats]

The Pats were a 1 and done playoff team.

Being happy just reaching the playoffs is the old Cincinnati Bungles gold standard.

It wasn't just a one and done. It was a failure of epic proportions that followed another epic failure vs the Bills. There's no way to put a good face on that but the team is still way ahead of the game overall. Six SB rings can do that.

 

[1960Pats]

Of course you don’t think that Kraft has confidence in the guy who has had the most success in the history of the sport because that’s your agenda.
You appear to want to believe that thinking you have the best man for the job required perfection and no result less than perfection can be tolerated. You aren’t too in touch with reality are you?

If you are going to keep your hypotheticals within the realm of possibility why would you expect a losing season from the coach who has 1 losing season in the last 21 and that was because he has the worst, by far, QB in the NFL?

It isn't a coincidence that he had a lousy QB and a losing record. You actually need good players to win, not good coaches. The last few years have proven that to be true.
The examples of average to below average HCs getting to a SB are countless. The amount of teams that get there without good players is miniscule, if there are any at all.

 

[1960Pats]

Deserves got nothing to do with it.

I worship Bill more than any other fan on this board but if hes spending $200m a year on players, not winning playoff games and having middling regular seasons 4+ years in a row it's time for a change.

I think they are on a nice forward path but we'll see how 2022 goes and what they do with $100m in cap space next year.

So? It means the team went 0-2 in the playoffs with Brady. They were not championship-ready clubs.

I think that the 09 and 10 defenses were past their prime. They were deadly before then.

 

[RobertWeathers]

I think that the 09 and 10 defenses were past their prime. They were deadly before then.

09 statistically was decent but slow.

Except for VW, Mayo and DMC it was short on talent everywhere. Nink and Chung were still developing

 

[1960Pats]

They are not behind 11 AFC teams. 7 is more accurate.

It's also still early.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Your comment was “if he’s spending 200 mill on players” which sounded as if you were saying that is unordinary.

I actually think 2019 was potentially a championship year that got short circuited.
We had a ton of receivers here, more than enough to deal with attrition and ended up falling short because we couldn’t throw the ball.
Edelman
AB
Gordon
Dorsett
Thomas
Decker
Mitchell
Myers
Sanu

We could have list many of them and had the best WR group of any pats sb champs.
The defense was #1 in points #1 in yards and #2 in takeaways.

They started 10-1
These are Brady’s stats after game 11
120/211 52.3% 1324 yards (221 per game 6.3 per att) 9/4 Td/int

Worst 6 game stretch of his career and he was clearly injured.

After week 11 they were SB favorites and because of the passing game it feel apart. That wasn’t a player acquisition issue

2020 was payback for a long run staying in top.
Despite what you read on this board 2021 was a success, given the timeline.

Yes. Tom was banged up and so was JE but listing all those failed WRs kinda tells us most of them didn't work out.

Again I don't blame him for drafts or maximizing the cap as they won consistently and always picked at the end but to say 2019 was a championship contender isn't accurate as they were knocked out in the 1st round. They just weren't good enough

 

[BTTA]

Kraft is doing what any manager would do by publicly reiterating that there are high expectations even though privately he may have more realistic goals. It is important that the fans and team feel as if there is urgency to succeed. The only thing that I don't like is that he did it in a way to make himself look good to the fans without taking any accountability. In other words he acted like a typical boss.

I don't think he does have much accountability at this point, in that he probably doesn't have much responsibility for what the team does anymore. He's not managing the money, the people, the processes. He only seems involved when the old guard owners group needs to show up.

 

[sb1]

I wouldn't read too much into what Kraft says on this. He's speaking as a fan, which he is.

He also said that this is a big year for Mac. That's not really saying the Patriots will show Mac the door if he isn't great this year.

 

[MahomestoKelce]

Deserves got nothing to do with it.

I worship Bill more than any other fan on this board but if hes spending $200m a year on players, not winning playoff games and having middling regular seasons 4+ years in a row it's time for a change.

I think they are on a nice forward path but we'll see how 2022 goes and what they do with $100m in cap space next year.

So? It means the team went 0-2 in the playoffs with Brady. They were not championship-ready clubs.

Yeah and I'm unsure if the owners would ever outright fire Bill. Maybe a "Mutual parting".

I believe Bill would only possibly get fired after 2022 if the season was an utter disaster (IE 4-13) and draft is terrible. Unlikely they completely collapse.

IF he ever came available, I think many coaches around the league would suddenly be on the hot seat.

Tom Brady is an outlier. An exception to every rule. There is no next Tom Brady. Not Mahomes. Not Allen. Not Jones. Not anyone. If Mac Jones career reaches the heights of a Ryan or Stafford, that's a pretty damn good career QB. It looks underwhelming on the surface because of what fans were use too.

So is Kraft thinking a playoff win is possible this year based on what occurred before. Ignoring the outlier aspect. Or, does he look at the current roster in 2022 and see a playoff winning team?

 

[sb1]

Yeah and I'm unsure if the owners would ever outright fire Bill. Maybe a "Mutual parting".

I believe Bill would only possibly get fired after 2022 if the season was an utter disaster (IE 4-13) and draft is terrible. Unlikely they completely collapse.

IF he ever came available, I think many coaches around the league would suddenly be on the hot seat.

Tom Brady is an outlier. An exception to every rule. There is no next Tom Brady. Not Mahomes. Not Allen. Not Jones. Not anyone. If Mac Jones career reaches the heights of a Ryan or Stafford, that's a pretty damn good career QB. It looks underwhelming on the surface because of what fans were use too.

So is Kraft thinking a playoff win is possible this year based on what occurred before. Ignoring the outlier aspect. Or, does he look at the current roster in 2022 and see a playoff winning team?

The only thing IMO that gets Bill fired is another -gate scandal that points to him. I don't expect that to happen.

He has an expiry date like all coaches do and he'll step down when it's time.

 

[Clonamery]

The only thing IMO that gets Bill fired is another -gate scandal that points to him. I don't expect that to happen.

He has an expiry date like all coaches do and he'll step down when it's time.

Kraft should step down long before BB.

 

[ashley]

Interesting article....I hope in the future, we're not looking at Patricia as being our coach......

 

[Spiral]

I believe that if Kraft parts ways with BB after next year, there will be at least half a dozen owners willing to pick up the phone, hire Bill at $20M+ per year, hang up, pick up the phone again, dial his present coach and tell him he's fired.

 

[venecol]

I believe that if Kraft parts ways with BB after next year, there will be at least half a dozen owners willing to pick up the phone, hire Bill at $20M+ per year, hang up, pick up the phone again, dial his present coach and tell him he's fired.

1. He would have to pick up his phone again, dial his present GM and tell him he's fired.
2. After next year Bill will be 72 yo. It'll be way more difficult for him to go into a new franchise and inculcate his philosophy and system w/ brand new players, coaches, FO, etc. It would probably take 3 years to see results.
3. Once BB leaves the Pats, for whatever reason, he retires from coaching.

 

[Boomer B]

What a lot of people on here don’t think about is $.

Bill is rumoured to be making $20m+ per year. For the Krafts if you’re delivering SB’s and deep playoff runs then paying that salary is justified. But are they happy paying it for 1st round exits or missing the playoffs? Probably not. They can pay others about 1/2 that number for that type of production. Bill made over $60m in the last 3 years for 0 playoff wins. That’s what was probably in Krafts mind when he made those comments.

Let’s not kid ourselves, it’s a business, and Kraft will unlikely keep paying that type of salary without seeing the results. He’s not gonna pay Bill another $100m so Bill can catch Shula. The team will have to compete for SBs.

 

[RIpats88]

Kraft is calling out Bills poor drafts. That's really what got us to 2019/2020 and having to spend that money last year.

Saying we better have another good draft. No more ignoring your scouts and drafting Nkeal harry instead of AJ brown or a special teamer in the second round.

Now it does appear Bill changed his methods and took a step back last year and let the scouts do the draft. And it worked well! We got 3 great pieces. Now if we can do it again at WR, CB, LB I. Like our spot

 

[ashley]

3. Once BB leaves the Pats, for whatever reason, he retires from coaching.

Agree, I can't see BB going to coach another team at his age. I think he stays with NE until he passes Shula and then retires. He still loves what he does and is involved in every aspect.

 

[Ring 6]

It wasn't just a one and done. It was a failure of epic proportions that followed another epic failure vs the Bills. There's no way to put a good face on that but the team is still way ahead of the game overall. Six SB rings can do that.

No it was just one and done. There are 2 results, win or lose. Ther are no moral victories, gold stars for trying or participation trophies.

 

[scott99]

I think This statement makes it clear that Kraft isn’t interested in being in rebuild mode like the jaguars, falcons and Texans. He wants us to get back to the playoffs and at the very least make a deep playoff run. Basically being in the conversation.

They went out and got their guy at QB. Hopefully I think mac will be our qb for years to come. They spent 120 million in free agency last year and got hunter henry, aghlor, Kendrick Bourne, Judon. That makes it clear to me also that they’re not trying to just rebuild.


Just think about other teams who have historic successes. The 49ers have 5 Super Bowls, they haven’t won a title since 1994, the cowboys have 5 Super Bowls, they haven’t won a title since 1995. The Steelers have won 6 Super Bowls and haven’t won a playoff game since 2016. They haven’t won a super bowl in 13 years. I don’t want us to end up like that either.

Sports is very cyclical, especially for Dynasty teams. It’s very difficult to sustain the level of greatness after the Dynasty years. Hopefully the Pats don’t fall into the winless ways of those 49ers, Cowboys and Steelers after their Dynasties. But it wouldn’t be surprising if the Pats take a step back this year, especially with the Dolphins and even Bills got better, while the Pats might’ve gotten weaker. Pats will probably have to fight for 2nd place in the AFC East again this year.

I feel more confident that the Pats can become contenders pretty fast, especially with Belichick and Kraft still running the show. I don’t think they will allow complacency. But I don’t think Mr. Kraft will get his wish for the team to be a SB contender THIS year. Maybe in 2023. Really need to nail the 2022 draft like they did in 2021. If they can get 2 or 3 impactful rookies, and last year’s rookies make the 2nd year jump, as well as free agents like Agholor & Smith have better 2nd years, then I think they can win 10 games again in 2022, not be a SB contender, but be in the middle of the playoff chase.

 

[Ring 6]

Kraft is calling out Bills poor drafts. That's really what got us to 2019/2020 and having to spend that money last year.

Saying we better have another good draft. No more ignoring your scouts and drafting Nkeal harry instead of AJ brown or a special teamer in the second round.

Now it does appear Bill changed his methods and took a step back last year and let the scouts do the draft. And it worked well! We got 3 great pieces. Now if we can do it again at WR, CB, LB I. Like our spot

This is rudimentary thinking, look deeper.
The draft didn’t “cause” spending money.
If they hit perfectly on every pick they would have had exactly the same cap money because they would be paying whoever else they picked exactly the same contract as the guys they did.

They had cap money because while going to 4 Sbs from 14-18 and trying to sell out to get to another, they used more of their cap for older players (retaining them longer than they would have, or signing them as free agents) and that part of the roster was gone by 2021 creating the cap space. Plus they received a cap refund for the opt outs in 2020 and didn’t have a QB contract taking up space. It had nothing to do with the drafts.