This was pretty eye-opening from over the weekend.
It wasn’t a sports talk radio host, a prominent writer, or even a die-hard fan saying it, it was Patriots owner Robert Kraft.
“We always made fun of the teams that spent a lot in the offseason,” he said to NBC Sports’ Peter King.
Kraft was discussing the Patriots’ big moves of during the first week of NFL free agency, in which the team guaranteed $162.5 million to mostly new players. That is just under $10 million less than the owner bought the entire franchise for 27 years ago. It’s also worth noting it was the most money guaranteed in a single offseason by any NFL team.
“In my 27 years as owner, I’ve never had to come up with so much capital before,” Kraft said to King.
Coming off a 7-9 season, the Patriots' worst record since 2000, and having the third-most cap space in the league, it’s no surprise they were so busy. But, just because they made a number of additions, it doesn’t guarantee future success.
According to ESPN Stats & Information, the Patriots are the sixth team to ever spend more than $100 million in a single offseason, but yet despite the previous five teams averaging five more wins the following season, none of those five teams were able to win a playoff game.
With their last playoff win coming in the 2018 season and expectations being so high in this area, things need to begin to change for the Patriots
“We gotta win,” Kraft said to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated. “And I think we’re in a better position than we were two weeks ago to do that. But we’ll let things play out."
By no means is this Kraft saying Belichick’s job is on the line, but it’s a reminder that just because the Patriots added players, and by all accounts had a good offseason, it doesn’t mean the job is done. The team still needs to go out and win games on the field.
Even with all his past success, it wouldn't be the greatest look in the world to spend all this money and it not translate to results on the field.
While it’s hard to imagine there’s ever real pressure on a coach who has won six Super Bowls, there has to be at least a slim amount on him to have success this season following spending so much money and coming off a disappointing 2020 season.
More of it falls on Belichick than ever before because at least with failed draft picks there’s the excuse of they had never played in the league before so there’s a projection element. With free agents, they have played in the league before and there’s really no excuse for a player not working out, especially ones that get paid big money.
Being part of this big free agent class for the Patriots also comes with some pressure to live up to expectations.
For instance, Hunter Henry will be expected to put up similar numbers to when he was fully healthy with the Chargers. Henry has had 55 catches and more than 600 yards receiving each of the last two seasons, so that is where the bar has been set.
The same goes for Jonnu Smith. He had 41 receptions for 448 yards and eight touchdowns a year ago and based on his contract, the hope is he’ll be even better than that with New England.
Defensively, Matthew Judon has recorded at least six sacks each of the last four seasons. That same production will be counted on given the nature of his contract, too.
Who knows what will happen if the majority of the new additions struggle leading to a poor 2021 season, but both the players and the team do not want to find out.
This was unfamiliar territory for the Patriots this offseason and while it seems they did their job in adding good players to improve the team, past history has shown the ultimate result is far from certain.
There’s still work to be done both for the players who were brought in and for Belichick once they get on the field.
