will the Pats spend?

[Wozzy]

The team had to have paid much more to keep Belichick than any other team paid for a HC for two decades. Never any sign of dispute. I'm sure Bill wanted to be paid the most.

They were the first team to buy a team plane. Now they get roasted because it's the oldest.

They stepped up to keep Josh McDaniels at a critical point.

The great ones are often more careful with everything. Auerbach was considered cheap too as a GM. Kraft is a businessman. He's put the money where it's most effective. The results have been phenomenal. The team had zero championships before Kraft. And under his ownership now has them back quickly again.

But you whine over player association polls, amenities, and things fired coaches say. This is a non issue to success, and the "he's cheap" take isn't even true anyway anymore than the crying from former BB players. And I'll take titles and Super Bowl appearances.

Where did I whine?

The original poster is blaming fans for something the players and former coaches voted on or said. He’s also trying to conflate payroll with facilities and amenities. I never whined, I just pointed out where he was wrong.

The irony is I have a twenty+ year posting history defending the Patriots payroll and salary cap allocation as “smart.”

At the same time Rkarp was calling Bill cheap, not knowing that their low spending ways were going on for two coaches prior to the guy living rent free in his head.

It was cool when he could blame “cheap” on BB, but when current NFLPA player polls and historical data shows it was the team all along… it’s no longer cool. He’s full of manure.

 

[rkarp1]

Spending on payroll stayed the same. Nothing changed really, other than fewer players got paid under Carroll and the team was top heavy and talent light.

Cash spending numbers are not opinion… they’re facts.

NFLPA polls are voted on by the players, Carroll’s opinion is his own… it has nothing to do with me or other fans.

By the way I find your take to be hilarious considering the last decade of the dynasty you constantly called BB cheap for not overpaying for garbage and I constantly argued with you that spending to the cap and not overspending was smart.

You argued BB should be fired entering the 2014 season… that aged well.

forget Carroll
for the past 25 years, other than the last 3 years, Bill controlled the payroll

 

[JoeSixPat]

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.

Actually Bledsoe signed for $103 million over 10 years with @ $8 million signing bonus - he earned about $40 million of that after being traded - and the contract was actually designed with an out as they were actually taking interest in Brady at that time, looking for a manageagle cap hit of under $7 million (big at the time at 9% of their cap space but still affordable given that they had Brady under a rookie contract.)

I'm confident they'll extend Gonzo to get out of his $18 mil next season and give him some security to play for a low salary this year

Maye can't be extended until next year and that's one they have to plan for with the moves they make this season, but he's not going anywhere - and rumor has it that he's prepared to do a team friendly contract to make sure he has good players around him - but it will still be our biggest cap hit I'm sure