Don't Forget Robert Kraft's Role In The Patriots Rebuild.

Henry McKenna of Patriots wire wrote an article called "8 moves that led to Bill Belichick's outrageously fast rebuild of the Patriots." And while the items listed may be true, he forgot one very important thing. Something that surely played a huge role in this quick rebuild. Something probably not seen since 1996. He forgot about Robert Kraft's involvement.

McKenna wrote, "Bill Belichick deserves votes for both the Coach of the Year award and the Executive of the Year award. Coach Bill and GM Bill — yes, two alter-egos of the same man — have worked together to perfection. Belichick took the 2019 version of his team — with cap issues, a string of bad drafts and the impending departure of Tom Brady — and converted the Patriots into this 2021 version: a Super Bowl contender."

What McKenne didn't write was when Robert Kraft called out the team and said what happened in 2020 wasn't good enough. That the quarterbacks play wasn't good enough. Kraft even talked about his spending and it didn't sound like he was happy because he viewed it as a sign of failure.

Kraft said. "I do remember we always made fun of the teams that spent a lot in the offseason."

Kraft spent the most amount of money he has spent on free agents in a long time, if not the most he's signed off on since buying the team. Buying teams doesn't always work. Just look at the Washington Football Team during the Bruce Smith era or Philadelphia when they had Vince Young. Complete disasters.

Kraft also said about the spending, "In the end, if you want to have a good, consistent winning football team, you can't do it in free agency. You have to do it through the draft because that's when you're able to get people of great talent, whether it's Willie McGinest or Tom Brady. You get them at a price where you can build the team and be competitive. Once they get to their [second] contract, if they're superstars, you can only balance so many of them."

Kraft continued, "Really, the teams who draft well are the ones who will be consistently good. I don't feel like we've done the greatest job the last few years and I really hope and believe I've seen a different approach this year. In the end, it all comes down to what happens on the field and how people execute and you really don't know how good a draft is for at least two years. Especially in the environment we're in now, I'm not quite sure still what our offseason training and learning abilities will be."

Kraft called out the coaching staff for their development of talent. Something else that has slipped bye the fanbase and media. Kraft acknowledges that the Patriots have not done a good job with development in that statement. That suggests he was kinda happy with some of the talent being drafted and upset that the team failed them. That means guys like Stidham, Izzo, Cy Jones, Keene, and Asiasi, Kraft is putting on the staff on not the players.

That was surely a message to Belichick and the entire organization. One that was sure to come off as "Do your jobs, don't expect me to do them." And the Patriots are playing like someone lit a fire under their arses, after a slow start. Because Kraft put everyone on notice. The Patriots are the most business like off all the teams and Kraft will force Belichick to get rid of someone if he really has to.

And to the haters in and out of the Patriots fanbase that would see the Patriots return to obscurity, Kraft had one final message.

Kraft said, "Envy and jealousy are incurable diseases. The haters still hate. And I understand it, and we’ll do our best to keep them in that position.”

So while Henry McKenna was right about the cocktail used to form the Patriots success in 2021 and that Belichick was the chef stirring the pot. He left out how Robert Kraft was the angry critic that forced Belichick to put the ingredients together for success in the first place. Robert Kraft stepped into the fire and started turning the franchise around in 1993. And when the franchise appeared to be not to be serving up quality at the beginning of 2021, he returned to the kitchen.

Patriots Nation, this season we owe some credit to Robert Kraft. For without him, there was no Brady or Belichick. He's responsible for the twenty year dynasty. Without him, there may not be a Mac Jones or Christian Barmore because he got involved. He's the reason why people aren't laughing at the Patriots like they are the Lions or the Jaguars. So give credit where it's due. Give credit to the owner for once.