More drama is brewing in Foxborough, Massachusetts as New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft reportedly told Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank not to trust former Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. Sources are saying that this was a big reason why Belichick did not get hired as the head coach of the Falcons. The Patriots have denied that this is what Kraft did.
Reports that Robert Kraft And Blank Talked On The Phone
Don Van Natta Jr., Seth Wickersham, and Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reported that Robert Kraft and Arthur Blank spoke over the phone while the Falcons were interviewing Bill Belichick.
“I don’t think they’d try to hurt Belichick,” the source said. “But I don’t think they’d try to help him either. They weren’t going to try to sink him. He was finished as an effective head coach. Just look at his last four years in New England. A disaster … If you’re Arthur Blank, why do you want the headaches?”
On the other side of this story, a Patriots spokesperson said Kraft not only did not say that Belichick should not be hired for the position with Atlanta, he even advocated for Belichick to get the Falcons head coaching job.
“Robert steadfastly denies saying anything negative to Arthur Blank about Bill Belichick after Robert and Bill mutually agreed to part ways,” Patriots spokesman Stacey James said. “In fact, Robert advocated for Bill to get the job.”
So, now it’s one source against another, how interesting.
Additionally, a source closer to Robert Kraft told ESPN,
“[Kraft] found Bill to be extremely difficult and obstinate and kind of stubborn and, in the end, not worthy of his trust. And also very, very, very arrogant.”
The rift between Robert Kraft and Bill Belichick is not new. As you may have heard by now, the Patriots documentary The Dynasty, which aired on Apple TV+, painted Belichick in a bad light. Robert Kraft speaks in the documentary many times sharing his thoughts on how things went down in past seasons.
“Tommy is the greatest in the 100-year history of the game, and I think he represented a threat to Bill’s full power. He didn’t want Tommy there,” Kraft said in The Dynasty.
Belichick’s Possible Future With NFC East Teams
While there is likely no chance that Bill Belichick will ever work for the Falcons, the eight-time Super Bowl-winning coach said that he would like to coach for the Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles, or New York Giants. If the Cowboys don’t do better next season, head coach Mike McCarthy would likely be on the hot seat and very well could be fired, leaving Bill Belichick to be his potential predecessor.
When asked about Bill Belichick, Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones commented,
“I know him personally and I like him. There’s no doubt in my mind we could work together. None. None.”
While I don’t doubt that Belichick could be successful with a talented offensive and defensive team like Dallas, I wonder how Belichick and Jones would get along. They are both very competitive people and are both big control freaks. They are the only two active men in the NFL who hold two jobs with a team, Belichick being the head coach and the general manager when he was with the Patriots, and Jerry Jones currently is the owner and general manager of the Cowboys. Jones’ difficulties with former Cowboys head coach Jimmy Johnson are well documented, and Johnson’s desire for more power in the organization is one of the main reasons the two parted ways in 1994.
A person being the head coach and the GM is a concept the NFL has not seen for a long time besides Belichick. Other examples include Paul Brown, who was the Cleveland Browns head coach and GM for three NFL titles in 1950, 1954, and 1955.
George Halas was astonishingly the owner, GM, and head coach for the Chicago Bears when they won the 1963 NFL Championship.
All-time great Vince Lombardi was the head coach and GM of the Green Bay Packers when they won three championships in the early-to-mid 1960s.
Lastly, Bill Walsh held both head coaching and GM duties for the San Francisco 49ers when they won three Super Bowls in the 1980s.
Needless to say, it is very difficult to be an NFL head coach and be the GM, much less win as much as these guys did while working two positions with a team.
My Thoughts On The Belichick-Kraft Controversy
Is Robert Kraft trying to sabotage the rest of Bill Belichick’s coaching career because of the Patriots’ recent struggles under his leadership? It seems like that idea is gaining some traction. A source said that the Krafts felt “betrayed” by Belichick’s handling of the team the last few years. And who can blame them?
The Patriots had the greatest quarterback to ever play in the NFL for 20 years, and he left in big part because he did not like Bill Belichick’s coaching style and did not feel appreciated by him. And then, with Brady and future hall of famer Rob Gronkowski gone, the team suddenly struggles. What a crazy thing to happen, right?
The Cam Newton Era
The Cam Newton era was interesting for a little while. Fans in New England think that Bill is maybe open to having a different style of play at quarterback, just for the team to crash and burn in the second half of this season, losing five of their last seven games.
I have had the theory since Cam Newton didn’t play as well after he got back from contracting COVID-19 that the virus had some effect on him. If the take isn’t already out there on the internet, I’m putting it out there. Cam Newton had long COVID and that is the main reason why he didn’t have a good rest of the 2021 season.
The Mac Jones Era
Fans think that maybe new rookie quarterback Mac Jones, picked with the 15th overall pick in the 2021 draft, will be the answer at quarterback and steer this team in a new direction.
While Mac had a very strong first season and outperformed every other rookie quarterback in his draft class and the Patriots made the playoffs that year, the next season was a headscratcher to put it best. Before the 2022 season, Bill Belichick made an unprecedented decision to not officially name an offensive coordinator and tasked Matt Patricia, a defensive-minded coach, to run the offense. That went worse than you could have expected.
In 2023, with Patriots fans and media members hoping that Matt Patricia was mostly to blame for the 2022 season, we were all proved wrong and saw that it was the same nonsense in a different season. Mac Jones looked even worse. His confidence was in the toilet.
The Patriots Are Just A Terrible Football Team
The offense was one of the worst I’ve ever seen be put out on an NFL field, and the Patriots played uninspiring football for the majority of the season. The defense, thank god for them. They were the only guys keeping this team in games when the team was in it. But they could only do so much. The offense was going to have to produce some, but they just couldn’t.
So am I surprised that all this news is coming out that Robert Kraft was not happy with how Bill Belichick managed the Patriots post-Brady? No, not at all! The man did not change as the modern NFL has. He certainly didn’t try enough to surround Cam Newton or Mac Jones with offensive weapons or even a real offensive coordinator in the 2022 season. Gee, what a crazy idea, that you need to have a steady offensive coordinator for your young quarterback for him to develop properly. This is an idea that Bill Belichick did not think of.
The fact that Bill Belichick rolled almost the same team out on the field these past few years and expected different and better results is the definition of insanity. To be competitive in this league, you need better wide receivers than Kendrick Bourne (who was hurt for the last 9 games of the 2023 season) and Demario Douglas, shocking right? These guys would be WR3 or WR2 on almost any other NFL team.
So does Mr. Kraft have the right to be mad about how Bill Belichick handled things and warn other teams about working with him? Yes, he absolutely does, because if Belichick coached how he has the past few seasons, he shouldn’t have a head coaching job on any NFL team. That might be a hot take but the man is not what he used to be. His age is catching up with him and I don’t think he’s very mentally sharp anymore making the decisions he’s made with this football team.
Another Take Of Mine
Another one of my theories is that no other team wanted to hire Belichick because they saw that he is behind the times and has not adjusted to the modern NFL. He is still so defensive-minded in a league that is increasingly dominated by offenses. If Bill Belichick is going to be the head coach for another NFL team, he has to change his ways. You may not want to hear it, but Robert Kraft is on the right side in this story.
About The Author
Cooper Sherman is an avid NFL fan and enjoys watching and covering it the most. The NFL is king. He previously wrote and was a podcaster for the online publications Pro Sports Fanatics and Jersey Column. He is also an NBA fan and watches it occasionally, more when the NFL season ends. Tennis is also an underrated sport to watch. His teams are the Patriots and Celtics, as tough as it is to be a Patriots fan right now. He is optimistic that Jerod Mayo will turn this team in the right direction! Follow him on Instagram and Threads @coopstershermy456, and X/Twitter @justcoopthings.
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