Howe: If you think Patriots owner Robert Kraft wouldn’t fire Bill Belichick, you’re wrong
Patriots owner Robert Kraft just spent a quarter billion dollars on Gillette Stadium renovations, including the construction of the largest outdoor scoreboard on the planet.
On Sunday, that scoreboard very prominently revealed the most lopsided shutout loss in franchise history, a 34-0 meltdown against the inconsistent New Orleans Saints.
There’s a school of thought that suggests Bill Belichick has earned the right to go out on his own accord, that the architect of the greatest dynasty in NFLhistory can coach in New England as long as he chooses.
Kraft doesn’t subscribe to it.
As Belichick pursues Don Shula’s all-time wins record, Kraft’s priorities will be tested. For the better part of two decades, the Patriots found new ways to measure their historic levels of success through pages upon pages of record books. But over the past two weeks, Belichick suffered the biggest blowout defeat of his career against the Dallas Cowboys (38-3) and followed it up with the organization’s worst home shutout. This is the first time since Kraft bought the team they’ve lost two games by 30 points in the same season, and it happened within a span of seven days.
The entire operation needs to improve — and fast. The Patriots are 1-4 and returning to the scene of their most humiliating loss in 2022 to take on another Kraft favorite: Las Vegas Raiders coach Josh McDaniels, as well as an owner in Mark Davis who has become business partners with Tom Brady. This is going to be a gut-check type of week for Kraft.
Then the Patriots take on the Bills and Dolphins, two AFC East opponents that have had a one-sided advantage over the Patriots since 2020. After that stretch, seven of their final nine opponents have superior records.
Belichick is sitting at 330 career victories. For a while, Belichick had been on track to surpass Shula’s 347 wins in 2024, which would sync up with his 50th season in the NFL.
But if the Patriots don’t start beating comparable opponents, let alone the perceived superior foes, that 348th victory may not be within reach in 2024. And if this chase continues at the current pace, how much energy would the fan base realistically expend to celebrate No. 348 — whenever it may come?
Kraft likes to remind people he grew up as a Patriots fan during the organization’s darkest days. But that doesn’t mean he has patience to endure more of them. On multiple occasions in recent years, he has lamented the team’s lack of a postseason victory in the post-Brady era. Kraft has grown frustrated, if not downright angry, over this shortage of success, according to people close to the situation.
Kraft hired Belichick in 2000 because he was enamored with two primary attributes. First, Kraft gained a firsthand appreciation for Belichick’s brilliant defensive mind and leadership presence when he was on Bill Parcells’ Patriots staff in 1996. Second, Kraft loved Belichick’s savviness and organization with the salary cap as it related to roster construction. Belichick was an incredible forward thinker during a time when many teams were still struggling to navigate the relatively new cap system.
But Belichick has failed to evolve. One example: The Patriots haven’t invested in big-time wide receivers despite the league trending in that direction. That philosophy worked for a long time with Brady running the offense, but it’s an antiquated way of thinking in the current state of the league. Beyond that, the value moves haven’t panned out, with Jakobi Meyers’ instant success with the Raiders and JuJu Smith-Schuster’s struggles with the Patriots refocusing the spotlight on that free-agent exchange.
The Patriots, under Belichick’s watch, have also struggled to draft and develop talent. Punter Jake Bailey, a 2019 fifth-round pick, was the last in-house selection to get a multiyear contract extension, and he was cut seven months later. Four other players got similar extensions in the previous four seasons, all of them fourth- or fifth-round selections.
Safety Kyle Dugger and outside linebacker Josh Uche, each in the final year of their contracts, are certainly well-aware of the pattern. Meanwhile, contenders like the Kansas Chiefs, San Francisco 49ers and Philadelphia Eagles are consistently paying to keep their homegrown talent.
The offensive line has gotten progressively worse each season since famed offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia retired following 2019. While injuries have been a persistent problem, the bottoming out of this line had been brewing for too long because of mismanaged assets in the draft and free agency.
New England has also gotten minimal production out of their tight ends in the post-Rob Gronkowski world, virtually ignoring the position in the draft during the 2010s before whiffing on a pair of third-rounders in 2020 and eventually signing Hunter Henry and Jonnu Smith to lucrative deals in 2021.
And now they’ve got a quarterback conundrum. Maybe Mac Jones isn’t the guy. Maybe he’s got above-average potential. Based on the lack of stability around him, it’s hard to truly know for sure.
