...it would be wise to listen.
Patriots owner Robert Kraft had a lot to say out at the owner's meetings today.
Let's break it down…
Or maybe ever.
Kraft is one of the best respected and most powerful owners in the NFL. He's kind of a big deal. In his heart of hearts, though, he's still just a fan sitting in the cheap seats so it should be no surprise he doesn't want to trade Malcolm Butler. He even mentioned the SB49 interception when discussing Butler's future with the Patriots. That's a fan talking. We hear Butler's name and that image immediately springs to mind and along with it the feeling of exuberant, unbridled elation and joy. We never want to lose that.
Okay, okay. It's really Bill Belichick's call and as we all know, Bill Belichick will do whatever he thinks is in the best interests of the team and that might be trading Malcolm Butler to the Saints for all their draft picks. Here's the thing, though. I don't think Kraft would've been so forthcoming about his feelings if he and Belichick hadn't had some conversations on the subject of Malcolm Butler and the rumored trade with New Orleans. I think Belichick told Kraft that trade probably isn't going to happen.
On the other hand...
If Cleveland really, really wants Jimmy Garoppolo, they can have him…
Pardon me while I leap from one conclusion to another: Jimmy G is as good as gone, gone, gone.
Stepping back from that conclusion…
Maybe this was just Kraft letting the Browns know Garoppolo is actually available despite earlier claims that he wasn't. (And what about you, Houston Texans? Tony Romo? What are you doing?) Jimmy G is a nice guy and all but Tom Brady is ready to play for another six or seven more years. Maybe it's time for us to see other people...
Of course, no deal is done until it is but I'm suddenly much more interested in those 1st round mock drafts.
The Patriots are going to burn the NFL to the ground in 2017…
Kraft invoking Randy Moss and 2007 when talking about Brandin Cooks should not be taken lightly. Sure, it may be a little bit of his inner fanboy talking again but I think there's some subtext here worth exploring.
Pigskin pundits and bobbleheads seem to think Deflategate is over but it isn't. Winning Super Bowl LI didn't settle all debts; some debts can never be settled. Deflategate won't be over as long as Tom Brady plays, as long as Bill Belichick coaches and as long as Robert Kraft owns the Patriots. It can never be made right. It will always be unfinished business.
Unfinished business... 18-1-0... 2007... Remember that the league justified their unprecedented and draconian punishments for Deflategate by referencing Spygate. They are inextricably tied together. Everyone west of the Connecticut River sees Spygate and Deflategate as irrefutable evidence the Patriots are chronic line steppers. Cheaters. Cheatriots. Coached by Belicheat. Those of us east of the Connecticut River see Spygate and Deflategate as ham-fisted overreach in a vain attempt to diminish and demean the sustained excellence of the Kraft/Belichick/Brady-era New England Patriots.
I can understand why Roger Goodell might've felt some sense of relief as he skulked off the winner's stage of SB5; he mistakenly thought Deflategate was over.
A man without morals can't understand the pain of an honorable man who has had his good name stained by false accusations. A man without friends can't understand the anger of all of those people who love the man he victimized in a travesty of justice based on his cynical, transactional definition of integrity. I'm sure Goodell's querulous confusion at the unabated disdain and t-shirt clad loathing of Patriots fans is sincere. It's just the job. You know, labeling the greatest player of all time a liar and a cheat based on faulty science and a year-old exchange of text messages by people not named Tom Brady is just what he calls Tuesday.
I've read the pigskin pundits and bobbleheads who've written and said that Patriots fans like me should just get over it. The Patriots won. Move on. Let it go.
Let it go?
No.
I refuse to accept the Wells Report. I refuse to accept Roger Goodell insisting his punishment of Tom Brady was vindicated by the courts. I refuse to accept the sliver of vindication "general awareness" grants the haters and trolls.
I'm not over it. I'm not moving on. I'm not letting go.
I don't think Robert Kraft, Bill Belichick or Tom Brady are over it, either.
The Patriots are coming for you Roger Goodell; they're coming for you and the other 31 owners.
That's what I heard Robert Kraft say today.
Randy Moss.
2007.
Unfinished business.
Six to seven more years of unfinished business.
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