It was 24 years ago that Robert Kraft acquired Bill Belichick in a trade in order to make him the head coach of the New England Patriots. But as the partnership came to an end on Thursday, Kraft was not going to end it how it started.
Despite Belichick being under contract and expected to coach elsewhere next season, the Patriots will not be receiving any assets for their Hall of Fame coach.
For Kraft, it came down to loyalty and respect.
“Yeah, that’s an interesting question. And, you know, I’m fortunate in our family, our businesses are all private. And so we try to create a culture and develop an environment where people want to stay and stay long term,” the owner explained Thursday. “And yeah, I guess if you look at this as a transaction, you know, he is so valuable in how we could extract something.
“I didn’t think that was right. I didn’t think it was right for Tom Brady who gave us 20 years. And I don’t think it’s right for Bill. I think each of them earned the right to be in a position where they should do what’s right for them, given what they have done for this franchise.”
For a team entering a rebuild, any additional assets would have been beneficial to New England. Kraft knows he might receive pushback for this decision, but believes this is the best choice from a big picture culture standpoint.
“So some people might criticize me for not, you know, extracting as much value,” Kraft continued. “And I understand that. But we just try to do what we think is right for the proper values and ability to operate and try to get people who want to come and feel that we’re going to treat them fairly.”
The Patriots now must find someone new to facilitate their own trades moving forward, as Belichick has handled personnel duties during his time in New England.
Many thought the head coach relinquishing those responsibilities and just coaching the team could keep Belichick in Foxboro. Kraft, however, believed that would lead to a weird dynamic in the building.
“Yeah, we’ve thought about that,” he explained. “But, you know, I’ve had experience running different businesses and trying to develop a team. And think about it. When you have someone like Bill who’s had control over every decision, every coach we hire, the organization reports to him on the draft and how much money we spend, every decision has been his and we’ve always supported him. To then take some of that power away and give it to someone else.
“Accountability is important to me in every one of our companies and where he had the responsibility and then someone else takes it, it’s going to set up some confusion and you know, well, it was his pick and that was a bad, you know, or he didn’t play him right or, you know, it just it wouldn’t work, in my opinion.”
