It's been sad to observe the Patriots' decision-makers over the past few weeks.
Instead of speaking directly to their consumers, they've chosen to speak around them. Or, more accurately, to speak through their preferred media tentacles to get their spin across.
It's now seven days until Tom Brady is an unrestricted free agent, and it's been 67 days since Bill Belichick has publicly commented on his "iconic" QB.
Robert Kraft has blurted a few words out to media members as he hustles from one place to another, but mostly he's hidden away in his palace.
Remember Bill O'Reilly's 'No Spin Zone?' Kraft productions has decided on an 'All Spin Zone' approach.
Belichick has won the internal struggle. We know this. He has decided that unless Tom Brady completely buys in without reassurances, all on a team-friendly, one-year deal, that it's in the best interests of the football team to move on.
Meanwhile, the Kraft family has chosen Bill over Tom. They're banking on longer-term franchise health over what they deem to be short-term romanticism.
What the Krafts are forgetting are their passionate ticket buyers and legions of Brady-first disciples who will be bailing on the franchise when TB12 leaves town. Some season ticket holders will cancel, and not just because of the coronavirus economy. The Krafts are underestimating the Brady fallout, and, no, five more pro-Jarrett Stidham pieces written by Jeff Howe and Doug Kyed won't help.
The dishonesty won't help, either. Kraft is trying to avoid the backlash and put all the blame on Tom, or Bill if that doesn't work; Robert wants to be the good guy who tried.
But who's buying it?
Let's examine the attempts to spin the team's narrative:
January 31, 2018: Robert and Jonathan Kraft tell Andrea Kraemer before the Super Bowl that Brady has "earned the right" to decide when his time in New England is over. It's a confirmation that the Seth Wickersham story is accurately depicting internal friction and the beginning of the team attempting to make it look like it's Brady's choice to leave.
August 2019: After a new Brady contract extension was announced, ESPN's Adam Schefter and NFL Network's Ian Rapoport announce that the new pact is a two-year deal, which of course it isn't. Brady would never play under the terms of the second year, and he demanded a clause not to be franchised after he assuredly opts out.
January 6: Robert Kraft tells Peter King that again Brady has "earned the right" to explore free agency. Again, "it's Brady's call, not ours."
January 22: Kraft blurts out to TMZ that "we plan to" bring back Tom, defining the phrase nebulous response.
February 2: Tom E. Curran reports that the Patriots will "extend" themselves to keep Brady around, shortly after Rapoport says they'll pay Brady in excess of $30 million per season. The team is desperate to put a good foot forward that they're trying…
February 7: But they're not serious about trying that hard, as Curran says the Rap Sheet $30 million report has become a "source of irritation" for the Pats and an albatross for negotiations. OK, then.
February 10: Rapoport says Kraft's thinking is that it is the "best thing for all sides to get apart" and for Tom Brady to test free agency before possibly coming back to New England. What?
February 27: Ben Volin of the Globe and others rush to report that the uncertain CBA is to blame for the lack of progress on a new contract. This despite Belichick talking to the McCourty brothers and the agent for Danny Shelton at the NFL Combine.
March 1: Curran writes that there is no Cold War going on between Brady and Belichick, and that they've exchanged text messages. Wow, great. Curran's sources also relayed that Brady would be making a mistake by leaving, and that there weren't really as many suitors as had been reported.
March 4: The Brady-Belichick phone call that "didn't go well" per multiple reports, an obvious leak from the Brady camp.
March 5: Dana White joins OMF on WEEI and relays that Bob Kraft wants Brady back "so bad." A clear response to Bill's "business as usual" phone approach. And yet, somehow Kraft is helpless to intercede. Bill is the bad guy.
March 7: Tom E. Curran confirms that Kraft won't intercede, for fear of franchise dysfunction. Almost like Kraft is saying, "Pats fans, please don't hate me for what is about to happen, it's beyond my control."
March 8: Belichick 'Plays the Field' by telling ESPN's Field Yates the ball is in Brady's court, and they aren't sure what he wants. And, he throws in a total lie that the team offered Brady a multi-year deal (or any serious multi-year deal) last August and that it was Brady who wanted freedom.
March 10: Diana Russini is the latest to say Brady doesn't have many suitors, saying, "Brady's interest in other teams outweighs the amount of teams that are interested." Are we on to a smear campaign, now?
What we're on to is a Brady-less team, and soon.
"Business as usual" is a phrase that will define this offseason as much as "Barbados Belichick" did last.
The departure is coming, and the Patriots' brass will emerge from their isolation to find that nobody bought their shtick. And no amount of purell can protect the Pats top brass from the sickness that's about to spread across the fan base.
