Patriots' Robert Kraft explains two Bill Belichick decisions

It was previously thought New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft could retain Bill Belichick as head coach but ask him to work with a newly hired executive regarding personnel decisions. 

Kraft explained hours after he and Belichick confirmed they mutually agreed to part ways that such a setup "wouldn't work" for anyone involved. 

"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," Kraft said during a Thursday news conference, per Nick O'Malley of MassLive. "We’ve always supported it. To then take some of that power away and give it to someone else. ... Where he had the responsibility and then someone else takes it, it’s going to set up confusion and, 'Well, it was his pick, and that was a bad pick, or he didn’t play him right,' you know? It wouldn’t work, in my opinion." 

It was reported last week that Kraft pushed "for coaching changes" last offseason, which resulted in Belichick hiring Bill O’Brien as his offensive coordinator. In an end-of-season news conference this past Monday, Belichick hinted he was willing to relinquish some power to remain with what had been his NFL home since 2000. 

Belichick was under contract through the 2024 season, so many assumed Kraft would try to receive compensation by trading the six-time Super Bowl champion head coach to a different team this winter. Multiple insiders mentioned that Belichick could essentially veto any trade, and Kraft said Thursday he felt it wouldn't have been "right" to keep the 71-year-old from hitting the open market ahead of the playoffs. 

"And I didn’t think it was right for Tom Brady, who gave us 20 years," Kraft noted, according to Mark Daniels of MassLive. "I don’t think it’s right for Bill. 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." 

Brady, of course, earned six Super Bowl rings playing for Belichick and the Patriots from 2000 through the 2019 season. TB12 then signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as a free agent in March 2020. 

"Some people might criticize me for not extracting as much value and I understand that," Kraft added about not trading Belichick. "But we just tried 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." 

While it had been reported that the Kraft-Belichick saga could "stretch out well into February," Thursday's developments indicate they wanted to put the matter to bed sooner rather than later.