It's time to get really real about the Patriots problems. And these aren't just problems you fix with a band-aid and a kiss on the boo-boo. These are deep-rooted, systemic problems that do not appear to be imminently resolvable.
Robert Kraft, for all the good he's done - building a multi-million dollar, state-of-the-art stadium without a dime of taxpayer money; constructing a sprawling, outdoor mall with shops, restaurants, bars, a movie theater, a team Hall of Fame (again, without asking taxpayers for a cent); rescuing the team from being moved to St. Louis; building the franchise into a model of consistency in the early 2000s - has inexplicably settled into becoming a miser. The Patriots are nearly $15 million under the salary cap, but don't tell that to team President Jonathan Kraft, who will remind you of obscure roster bonuses that, if reached, would have the Patriots closer to $4 million under the cap.
Kraft's penny-pinching ways started years ago, when he and Logan Mankins got into a staring contest, and Mankins eventually won, but not before he basically called Kraft a liar. But a lot of Kraft's lack of enthusiasm to spend can be directly attributed to...
Bill Belichick thinking he's still miles ahead of the curve and the smartest guy in the room. When the Patriots won Super Bowl XXXVI, they did it on the backs of experienced veterans whom Belichick thought he could squeeze the last ounce of talent out of. Antowain Smith, David Patten, Bobby Hamilton, Anthony Pleasant, Bryan Cox, Larry Izzo, Roman Phifer, Otis Smith...each of these players were on the back nine of their careers, and Belichick was able to get one more season out of them. But something happened, right around the time Scott Pioli left for Kansas City and Belichick was left as master and commander. No longer were the Patriots signing veterans and trying to replicate the success of 2001; now the team was cutting these veterans in training camp and replacing them with undrafted free agents and late-round scrap-heap players who provided "value". And in Bill Belichick's New England "value" trumps all. Even "talent". There's a reason why the Patriots signed Brandon LaFell instead of any of the myriad options at receiver who were so obviously better than LaFell: because he provides four-down value. He's not very good at receiving, blocking, or defending kick-offs, but he can at least do it all. Belichick would rather have a player who is OK at three things over a guy who is great at one thing but not very good at the other two. And in the past few years, that has failed them.
Tom Brady is not going to last forever. Sadly, that realization came right around the 2006 season when the Patriots lacked a quality receiver for Brady to trust in the AFC Championship Game against the Colts, which led to a loss in that game. Because the franchise decided that Deion Branch wasn't worth the money, and his talent could be replicated by a mish-mash of Reche Caldwell, Jabar Gaffney, and Doug Gabriel. And since 2007, how many seasons can we truly say the franchise did everything in its power to give Brady the best surrounding cast possible? I can think of three: 2007, 2011, and 2012. Two of those years, they advanced to the Super Bowl. In 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013, and 2014, they have left wins on the field because they'd rather win at the negotiation table.
And on Brady, I hope Patriots fans are ready for the ugly pissing contest that's coming next spring, because it is absolutely inevitable. Brady is visibly fed up, and you can't blame him. And he's going to have a down year (by his standards) and the Belichick/Kraft duo will think his tank's run empty, and they'll shop him. Also, he's got a contract dispute rearing its ugly head, and as we've learned from Mankins, Asante Samuel, and Wes Welker, if you dare to question your contract, you are a dead man walking. This is Tom Brady's last season in New England. I can assure that. The Patriots front office is ready to move on, they just aren't ready for the inevitable colossal s***storm that's coming when they make the move. Fans are going to be enraged. And that won't hurt Kraft's bottom line, but a 6-10 or 5-11 season with a not-ready Jimmy Garoppolo under center will.
Tommy Kelly put it perfectly in an article posted to the Arizona Cardinals website Monday: "Are we worried about money here? Or are we worried about winning?" The answer, sadly, is all too obvious.
