The Patriots are in the middle of a case between Bret Bielema and the Razorback Foundation.
The Razorback Foundation claims in its lawsuit against Bielema that he, Bill Belichick, and their shared agent, Neil Cornrich, intentionally didn't pay Bielema enough with the Patriots that would lower the University of Arkansas' buyout payment.
After he was fired at Arkansas he had a $12 million buyout and then his $125,000 salary with the Patriots was not high enough to reduce the payments.
The case has now gone to court and according to The Athletic, the Patriots are seeking to block from public view four emails between Robert Kraft and Belichick, which involve coaching compensation and qualifications.
“The four emails at issue have not been made publicly available; stored in any other location on NEP’s network; or disclosed to third parties (other than in this litigation and expressly subject to the Protective Order),” Patriots lawyers wrote in a motion to the court.
“These emails contain competitively sensitive information. They reveal NEP’s decision making process, at different points in time, for how much to compensate one of the team’s coaches (Mr. Bielema), based on his experience and prospects and what other coaches were being paid; how to structure his contract with NEP; and how best to utilize him as part of the coaching staff. They also reveal information concerning individuals other than Mr. Bielema, including, in one instance, compensation information, that is completely unrelated to the dispute between Mr. Bielema and the Foundation. While Mr. Bielema is no longer with the team, the information remains competitively sensitive because it can be used as a benchmark both for the coaches currently fulfilling the roles formerly performed by Mr. Bielema and for NEP’s other coaches.”
The judge overseeing the case invited the Patriots as a non-party, but now the organization is upset with the possibility of these emails being unsealed.
