Robert Kraft Responds To Bill Belichick’s Comments: “Money Has Never Been An Issue”
Since Tom Brady left, the Patriots have a lackluster 25-25 record, and Bill Belichick, the team’s head coach and general manager, is under pressure to turn things around.
Robert Kraft Responds To Bill Belichick’s Comments: “Money Has Never Been An Issue”
Belichick noted that New England had spent the least in the league over the previous three seasons at his end-of-the-year press conference.
“Our spending in 2020, our spending in 2021, and our spending in 2022 — the aggregate of that — was we were 27th in the league in cash spending,” Belichick said at the time, via Boston.com. “Couple years we’re low, one year was high, but over a three-year period, we are one of the lowest spending teams in the league.”
New England #Patriots owner Robert Kraft says spending on players “will never be the issue” for the #Patriots:
“Money spending will never be the issue, I promise you, or I’ll sell the team.”
This is an owner who GETS it👏
(Via @ProFootballTalk) pic.twitter.com/ZUVnuFBm1I
— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) July 2, 2023
Greg Bedard of the Boston Sports Journal recently questioned Kraft about the team’s spending, and he made it clear that money is no object to get a winning team back in Foxborough.
“So I asked Robert about Bill Belichick’s comments, about how they’re one of the lowest cash-spending teams in the league,” Bedard said on NBC Sports Boston’s Early Edition. “And a lot of fans took that as a little bit of a shot at ownership, that the Krafts aren’t willing to spend for this team. And I asked Robert about that, and I just want to quote him accurately. He says, ‘He [Belichick] has never come to me and not gotten everything he wanted from a cash-spending perspective. We have never set limits.’ And he further went on to say, ‘Money spending will never be the issue, I promise you, or I’ll sell the team.’ So that’s pretty definitive.”
Owner Robert Kraft reveals Tom Brady accepted the #Patriots’ homecoming invite ‘right away:’
“We always knew he was a Patriot at heart and we wanted him back here — and we want our fans to be able to recognize everything he did for us and how special he is,” Kraft recently told… pic.twitter.com/1rz9ZYxNKJ
— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) June 30, 2023
The Patriots had already signed receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster this offseason for the identical contract terms (three years, $33 million) as Jakobi Meyers, who left for Las Vegas. Among other free-agent additions, the Pats signed veteran pass catcher Mike Gesicki to a one-year contract. This week, the club also renewed contracts with linebacker Ja’Whaun Bentley and wide DeVante Parker.
According to reports, they are also interested in DeAndre Hopkins, a free agency receiver.
Update: #Patriots owner Robert Kraft: “Money spending will never be the issue, I promise you, or I’ll sell the team.”
Kraft responded to previous comments by Bill Belichick on lack of cash spending.
More here:https://t.co/Cnzjh3Kp48 pic.twitter.com/xEmbRjOOd2
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) July 2, 2023
The Patriots now have the second-lowest salary in the NFL, at $203,597,868.
Additionally, this summer, Kraft expressed his optimism for New England’s chances in the next year.
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