Gasper on the Patriots offseason approach so far – Felger & Mazz
Chris Gasper of The Boston Globe joined Felger & Mazz on Friday and discussed the New England Patriots offseason so far. Gasper brought up how he thinks the Patriots don’t believe that they are as bad as their 4-13 record from last season and that’s why they’re bringing back so many players from last season.
Were the New England Patriots really not a 4-13 team last season?
Felger: How do you feel about the rest of the Patriots offseason so far? What strikes you?
Chris Gasper: What strikes me is I feel like the attitude and the approach that they’re taking, and look, I like some of these signings. Hunter Henry I was really bullish on that. I like the Kendrick Bourne deal. But just overall, when you look at what’s happened here, no splash moves, no real significant needle moving additions from the outside. I feel like organizationally they are looking at this and they’re pinning this whole thing on Bill Belichick and Mac Jones. And I think they’re subscribing to what you heard multiple guys say last year, Bill said it, you had Matthew Judon come out and say it after the Miami game, “we’re not a bad team”. Jonathan Jones said it, and then Deatrich Wise gave you this doozy, “we have a bad record, but we don’t have a bad team”. I think they actually believe that crap down there. I think they look at it and say, we were 4-13 because the coach ran us into the ground and the coach ran the quarterback into the ground, we don’t have 4-13 talent. We’re going to resign a bunch of our guys and run it back. And I think that’s a mistake.
Felger: I agree. I Think from top to bottom I keep saying this. They haven’t been sufficiently humbled from top to bottom.
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Top 6 quotes from The Dynasty, Part 10
Robert Kraft shares a meeting he had with Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen in the 2018 offseason
FOXBORO, MA – DECEMBER 06: Tom Brady #12 of the New England Patriots talks with Patriots owner Robert Kraft before the game against the Philadelphia Eagles the game at Gillette Stadium on December 6, 2015 in Foxboro, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Kraft: “Tommy and Gisele came to my house and they were really upset. I had Gisele say ‘that effing Belichick, he doesn’t treat my Tommy like a man.’ She thought Bill was disrespectful to Tommy and that it was time to move on. I realized how bad the situation was and I said, ‘look Tommy, if you want to go I’ll work it out so you can go.”
This sounds like the moment Kraft made the decision, as it’s been framed at times, to choose Belichick over Brady. Brady was also asked about this meeting but said there are some things he’d like to keep to himself.
Alex Guerrero remained a sticking point within the organization in 2018
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – NOVEMBER 27: Tom Brady #12 of the New England Patriots celebrates with trainer Alex Guerrero after defeating the New York Jets with a score of 22 to 17 at MetLife Stadium on November 27, 2016 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
Robert Kraft: “Tommy and I, we had a conversation and he said it was his intention to stay. But we would have to make concessions, including getting Alex Guerrero back in the fold…Bill was pissed. Allowing Alex Guerrero back [after his sideline and team plane privileges were revoked the previous year] – it was the one time through 20 years I really have stepped in and got involved.”
Bill Belichick: “For a head coach, all the relationships are very important. Starts at the top with ownership. They can derail some positive and constructive progress if those things don’t work out well.”
Kraft: “Bill felt this was really a questioning of his authority and ability to govern. But, I had the greatest player and the greatest coach. I was gonna do whatever I gotta do to keep it patched together and make it happen.”
Belichick’s quote is pretty ominous and vague here, but this is the order the quotes were presented in the episode, with nothing in between. A year after having Guerrero pretty much removed from team activities, Brady got him back – much to Belichick’s dismay apparently.
Matthew Slater was the go-between for Tom Brady and Bill Belichick in 2018
FOXBOROUGH, MA – JANUARY 21: Tom Brady #12 of the New England Patriots and head coach Bill Belichick look on during warm ups before the AFC Championship Game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Gillette Stadium on January 21, 2018 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Brady: “Every relationship ebbs and flows. He’s got to make decisions that he thinks is best, and I have my own decisions which I think are best. We just didn’t talk a lot.”
Slater: “I remember times like – if Tom wanted something done, he would tell me to go tell Bill. And I’m looking at Tom like ‘Tom, I’m not telling Bill, you go tell Bill.'”
Kraft: “Basically, it was a silent relationship. Before, there had been tension. But now, it was just totally dysfunctional.”
In some ways, this makes the Patriots’ 2018 season all the more impressive. To have the success they had without the coach and quarterback talking to each other is quite the feat.
Super Bowl LIII saved Bill Belichick’s job
ATLANTA, GEORGIA – FEBRUARY 03: Head coach Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots looks on before Super Bowl LIII against he Los Angeles Rams at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on February 03, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Robert Kraft: “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. And so, when you come to the decision – Brady or Belichick – I thought back to the Eagles Super Bowl. Tommy threw for over 500 yards but Bill made a tremendous error. I credited Bill with that loss. To be honest, my head coach is a pain in the tush. But I was willing to put up with it as long as we won. So for the next Super Bowl, I wanted to keep an eye on him.”
Kraft, later on: “After winning that Super Bowl, I thought ‘what an amazing defensive job our staff did under the leadership of Bill. So, if I ever thought that Bill was losing it as a head coach and couldn’t perform, he had re-established himself. At that point, Tommy understood that Bill would be the head coach for a number of years going forward.”
Kraft lays out his approach to the Brady/Belichick dynamic heading into Super Bowl LIII. Of course, that game against the Rams proved to be one of Belichick’s greatest coaching performances.
Robert Kraft, Tom Brady, and Bill Belichick react to Brady moving on
(Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images)
Kraft: “Tommy called to say he’d like to come over and when we walked into the room, he said ‘I’ve decided to move on.’ And as soon as he said it, he started crying. And his crying told me everything I needed to know.”
Brady: “He said ‘I think we should call Bill.’ And then when Bill answered, it was emotional. It’s ’cause, again, it was a chapter coming to an end. And I expressed that to Bill too.
Belichick: “I would say that’s kind of what I expected. But there’s always kind of the – saying goodbye is always hard. I loved coaching Tom. Loved having him on our football team. But at that point in time, I think he made the right and the best decision.”
The three leaders of the Patriots’ dynasty recall how things ended with Brady in New England. This all occurred just days into the COVID lockdown in 2020.
Robert Kraft believes Tom Brady would have stayed if Bill Belichick left
HOUSTON, TX – FEBRUARY 05: Head coach Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots and Tom Brady #12 celebrate after winning 34-28 over the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl 51 at NRG Stadium on February 5, 2017 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
Interviewer: “Would Tom Brady have remained a Patriot if Bill had departed as head coach.”
Kraft: “Yes. I feel pretty strongly about that. Yes. To be honest, I didn’t want to move on from either one. But the point is, keeping them together for 20 years is the hardest thing I’ve done in my business career. Nothing is perfect in this world, as much as we would like it to be. This is life. And it’s what happens. And how you deal with it, and how you moved on.”
The entire series seemed to be leading up to this question. When push comes to shove, was it clearly one or the other – Brady or Belichick? Kraft seems to think so.
