Pick up nuggets as the Patriots close the book on the 2022 season, and start preparations for 2023 — including the meeting between Bill Belichick and possible changes, Belichick's press conference and ownership's letter to season ticket holders:
• As far as the postseason meeting between Belichick and Kraft, I was told Monday afternoon that it was expected to happen either Monday night or Tuesday morning. I don't have a further update as of this time.
• Both sides expected Belichick to want to be back (which he said in his Monday press conference) and ownership wanted Belichick to return, but it's not quite as simple as that this time around. In year's past, Belichick's update to ownership was along the same lines as he had already given to the media. That will not suffice this time around. Kraft will want to hear details on how Belichick is going to improve the team, and he will be held accountable to that.
• Despite his largely blameless Monday press conference, Belichick understands that he screwed up the offense this season with his decisions and will set out to fix that. How? No one knows, Belichick keeps his own counsel. Ownership wants changes to the offensive coaching structure — and may want those changes to be widespread. Belichick is open to this and, in fact, may be OK with Kraft coming down heavy-handed with demands about certain coaches because it would free up Belichick to make those changes because he could, in essence, blame ownership for forcing his hand.
• Those who want outside voices should mind the Rooney Rule, which mandates minority candidates must be part of the search process for teams. It was expanded in recent years to include coordinators and QB coaches. It's believed that Joe Judge's ascension there came prior to the QB rule being instituted. This could affect how Belichick chooses to give out titles. Belichick has a good record of hiring minority coaches, but he doesn't react well to NFL restrictions on how he has done his job for several years. Could Belichick refuse to give out coordinator titles and turn off possible prospects? Will the NFL let him get away with hiring "assistants" or "consultants" instead of following the spirit of the rule?
• New news on the Bill O'Brien front yet but his former linebackers coach and defensive coordinator, Mike Vrabel, is now looking for an OC himself after firing Todd Downing and most of the staff. Vrabel usually promotes from within, and Tim Kelly is a top internal candidate, but anything is possible. The Bucs could be an O'Brien destination after they are ousted from the playoffs, and Josh McDaniels could come calling for his good friend. Fired Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury is a possibility for the Patriots, but he runs a completely different scheme (Air Raid) and would be Mac Jones' third system in three years. Kingsbury would be a better fit at Alabama should O'Brien find an NFL job.
• Jerod Mayo, who will interview for the Browns defensive coordinator position, would likely take the same position here if it were offered and he could call plays. That Mayo, who appears blocked here by Steve Belichick, might go elsewhere for the same responsibilities would be a bad look for Belichick. Yes, the Patriots have lost a lot of coaches and front-office personnel in recent years, but many would have stayed if given titles and pay raises. Mayo leaving would be another self-inflicted wound.
• Belichick's bizarrely detailed response about the team's record free-agent spending in 2021 — "What we try to do is we look at it over a time frame. One year is a polaroid snapshot, but actually there are multiple years involved. At some point, the reconciliation has to come. 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." — was Belichick defending himself against the belief that he spent wildly that offseason. It was not a shot at ownership — Belichick has complete autonomy to spend as much as he needs to win — but it probably won't play well to the Krafts, who bristle at the notion that they don't spend on the football team.
• The fact is, Belichick declined to pay Tom Brady what he was worth, decided himself to take a dead cap year in 2020 to reconcile the books, and failed to develop, for several years, the kind of young talent that deserved to receive lucrative long-term extensions — which are often the biggest expenditures for teams. Malcolm Butler, Jamie Collins, Joe Thuney, Stephon Gilmore and JC Jackson are some of the players the Patriots could have extended and didn't — and some were good decisions. The last big-money extension the Patriots gave to a young, homegrown talent was Shaq Mason in 2018, and Belichick traded him away this year instead of continuing to pay him. The last drafted player to be voted to a Pro Bowl was Jamie Collins in 2013. The 12 first or second-round draft picks from 2013-18 never received a multi-year contract extension from the Patriots. And one of their twin 2012 first-rounders (Dont'a Hightower) got one, while Chandler Jones received his in Arizona after being traded out of New England.
• That Belichick declined to endorse Mac Jones as the starting QB in 2023, likely won't play well in the locker room. "Mac has the ability to play quarterback in this league," said Belichick. "We have to all work together to try to find the best way as a football team, which obviously the quarterback is an important position, to be more productive than we were this year. So that's incumbent upon all of us. We'll all work together on that. Again, look for better results."
• The players understand that Jones and the offense were put in terrible positions by Belichick this season. Hopefully he takes more accountability for that in private because that's how you lose players, and many were disillusioned from the start about the changes. Several players were not happy with how Belichick handled Jones with the Bailey Zappe situation, especially against the Bears — there are lingering feelings about that. Players don't believe they were put in a position to succeed, and one believes that if they had kept the same blocking system as last season, the team would have had half the sacks and negative plays that killed the offense this season. That was a coaching decision, and the Krafts are well aware of the situation.
• The letter the Krafts sent to season ticket holders on Monday morning wasn't intended as a shot at Belichick but, like his payroll comment, it might be perceived as one. The Krafts were merely letting their fellow fans know that they are indeed watching, aren't happy, and are vigilant about the direction of their football team.