Robert Kraft doesn’t agree with Bill Belichick’s remarks on how much money the Patriots have been spending — or in this case, haven’t been spending.
Boston Sports Journal founder Greg A. Bedard caught up with the Patriots owner and inquired about his response to the remarks, in which Belichick noted the team was “27th in the league in cash spending.”
“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.
“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 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.”
The Patriots had a lackluster 2022-23 season, going 8-9 and missing the playoffs.
Belichick brought up the concern during his end-of-season press conference in January.
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“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 during the press conference, as covered by 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.”
Belichick, who was responding to a question about how much production the Patriots got out of their big 2021 free-agent class, continued to press the matter.
“Had we averaged that out in those three years, you would have had the same numbers,” he said.
“Whether it’s two low and one high, two medium, three mediums, two sort of high and one really low, whatever it is, there’s an average that comes. That’s the three-year average, we’re 27th in the league in cash spending.”
They have since brought Bill O’Brien back to the organization as offensive coordinator, in hopes that he can help quarterback Mac Jones rebound from a troubling sophomore campaign.
Free agents added by the Patriots this offseason have included wideout JuJu Smith-Schuster, tight end Mike Gesicki and running back James Robinson.
