6 takeaways from ESPN story detailing the spiraling of the ‘Patriot Way’
The article, written by Seth Wickersham and Wright Thompson, sheds new light on the tension between Bill Belichick and the Kraft family.
After a historic and dominant dynasty lasting over 20 years, the Patriots are officially entering a new era in 2024. Bill Belichick out. Jerod Mayo in.
According to a lengthy ESPN article by Seth Wickersham and Wright Thompson, entitled “It was the Patriot way, until it wasn’t,” Belichick’s relationship with the Kraft family was even worse by the end than originally believed.
Here are six takeaways from the detailed report on the end of the dynasty in New England.
Belichick wanted to move on from Tom Brady in the early 2010s.
It’s widely understood that Belichick wanted to move on from Brady during the latter part of the legendary quarterback’s career. Ultimately that didn’t happen until the conclusion of the 2019 season. But, Belichick reportedly flirted with the idea of moving Brady in the early 2010s.
Wickersham and Thompson noted New England’s plateau from 2006-2013 — specifically after a pair of Super Bowl losses to the Giants — as a window where Belichick considered trading Brady. During that time, he had already begun expressing a desire to win a Super Bowl without his future Hall of Fame signal caller.
In 2014, Belichick even presented Kraft with a study about quarterbacks dropping off in their mid-30s. He used a second-round pick to draft Jimmy Garoppolo that same season, and positioned him to be Brady’s successor.
Ultimately, as the story goes, Kraft intervened at every turn to keep Brady with the Patriots until the two sides finally split. Fighting to keep Brady around turned out well for everybody, though, considering New England won three more Super Bowls during the time Belichick was reportedly ready to move on.
The disdain for Belichick’s move clearly still lingered with Kraft, though, and possibly still does. After Brady hoisted his seventh Lombardi Trophy with Tampa Bay, Kraft reportedly said privately that “Bill had told me [Brady] couldn’t play anymore, and then he goes out and wins the [expletive] Super Bowl.”
People around the NFL believed the Krafts were ‘too involved’ as owners.
One thing’s for sure, the Kraft family is passionate about the Patriots. However, in the eyes of some people, they’ve done too much meddling with the team since taking over ownership of it.
Belichick apparently knew of this before 2000; there was “word around the league that they meddled and liked to be involved in foootball matters.” Hence, Belichick included both Robert and Jonathan in a pre-draft strategy meeting, reportedly as a test of sorts. That was the same year Belichick drafted Brady in the sixth round.
In the final weeks of the 2023 season, Belichick reportedly told people around him that he thought Robert and Jonathan “eroded the culture he had built over two decades.”
In the final year of his time with New England, people around the league even began to feel sorry for Belichick, who’d been their enemy for years due to the dynasty he created. Wickersham and Thompson specifically cited how those people feeling bad about the way the Krafts allowed Belichick to “twist under a barrage of reports about his future.”
It doesn’t seem that involvement will go away in the new regime either. In fact, the Krafts — Jonathan specifically — might become more involved than ever. The article details that some plans were in place for J. Kraft to handle football operations alongside Robyn Glaser, a senior VP for the Kraft Group, in 2024 if Belichick was gone.
Once those plans got out internally, one source said “the Krafts’ meddling has got everyone spun around.”
There was serious tension between Belichick and Jonathan Kraft, too.
It seems like a foregone conclusion that Robert Kraft and Belichick’s relationship had soured beyond repair over the years. But, what’s less widely known is how much tension existed between Belichick and Jonathan.
According to Wickersham and Thompson, J. Kraft told friends he wanted Belichick gone in late 2022. Midway through this season, Belichick described him as “brutal,” riding Belichick hard about his decision-making as New England slumped.
J. Kraft wasn’t at Belichick’s farewell address, and Belichick didn’t mention him at any point in his statement. Bitter to the end on both sides, it seems.
Belichick was open to trading Mac Jones in the offseason.
Whether Mac Jones was doomed to fail by the carousel of coordinators in front of him, or he’s actually an NFL bust, it’s clear that he isn’t suited to be the Patriots quarterback. And frankly, wasn’t for the majority of 2023, at least.
So, it’s interesting to see that Belichick apparently brought up the idea of trading Jones prior to the 2023 season. A decision that was reportedly overruled by the Krafts.
Instead, the Patriots brought in Bill O’Brien to help fix things. According to Wickersham and Thompson’s sources, R. Kraft told one person, “I’m going to do what I need to get my quarterback the right people.” That move seemed to have the right intentions, but it missed the mark completely. Jones wasn’t any better in year three than year two, and now his stock is lower than ever if New England wanted to trade him this offseason.
It seems the Krafts’ lack of trust in Belichick and quarterbacks clouded their judgment on what, in hindsight, would have been a good decision to trade the young signal-caller.
Players and coaches rallied around Belichick in his final weeks.
No matter how ready the Krafts were to move on from Belichick, it seems most of the coaches and players in Foxborough didn’t share that sentiment.
Wickersham and Thompson wrote that the locker room “rallied around” Belichick late in the season when the team’s playoff hopes had already vanished. Captain Matthew Slater was vocal in press conferences and media scrums about his love for Belichick and Belichick’s ability to remain focused and consistent no matter the circumstances.
One Patriots assistant coach reportedly said the “Krafts should be ashamed of themselves,” about the way they treated Belichick at the end of his run.
The ‘amicable’ ending that was anything but.
At the end of the day, Belichick and R. Kraft stood on a stage, hugged, and shared a few touching moments together. Kraft said the decision was “mutual” and “amicable,” and Belichick looked at Kraft and told him he’d always be a Patriot.
Apparently, that was all for show, and exactly how the Krafts hoped to end the relationship. The reality was filled with far more disdain. One of Kraft’s confidants called it “an amazing performance because I don’t think Bill has given Robert eye contact in a year and a half.”
Now, at least both sides can hit the reset button away from what seemed to be a toxic relationship no matter how you spin it. Belichick will presumably go after Don Shula’s wins record with another team. And the Krafts will attempt to resurrect New England’s winning ways with Jerod Mayo at the helm.
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