New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft made it clear before the 2022 NFL season he was none too pleased with his team's three-year postseason drought. Bill Belichick and Co. have yet to win a playoff game in the post-Tom Brady era and they could be eliminated from postseason contention as soon as this Sunday.
It's unfamiliar territory for the Patriots under the Kraft/Belichick regime. After two decades of dominance, New England has become a middling team that lacks an identity and has no real sense of direction. Those are issues Belichick will be tasked with fixing this offseason in order to return to relevance in 2023.
Kraft has mostly given Belichick free reign throughout his tenure as head coach, but he may be forced to step in after another year without a playoff victory. How would he approach Belichick in a conversation about the team's future this offseason? The Athletic's Mike Sando joined our Tom E. Curran to discuss on a new episode of the Patriots Talk Podcast.
Patriots Talk: Will Robert Kraft take a hard-line stance with Belichick this offseason? Experts weigh in | Listen & Subscribe | Watch on YouTube
"I think Bill's approach is a little bit more like, 'Hey, look, we both know this is not what we want. What's your plan?' (Kraft could) defer to the coach, 'Hey, you're the man, what's the plan?' And then hear what he has to say," Sando said. "Maybe they've had these conversations already. I doubt it. In-season would be surprising.
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"But see what he says, and if his diagnosis is similar to yours, then there's not a lot to talk about. But I think the interesting thing would be of course if he didn't really think there was anything broken and then you're in a situation where as an owner, I think you need to press a little bit and maybe try to get a little more detailed answers. Because I think we can all see from the outside that the offense is broken."
Curran offered insight of his own on how he expects the Krafts to approach Belichick in the offseason.
"Because Belichick has been allowed to and has the right to operate his galaxy the way he sees fit, the Krafts have given him the latitude to do that," Curran said. "As a result, they don't want to be looking over his shoulder now that things are going sideways, even though they allowed him to make decisions that are certainly dubious in hindsight. But there's still the 'OK, we don't want to turn him into an armadillo if we go in there, but we need an explanation.'
"My understanding is, from conversations that I've had, that's exactly what they plan to do. He doesn't seek a lot of outside counsel, Bill Belichick. And the Krafts have made it pretty obvious over the course of time that Bill has earned that and they allow him that."
Also discussed in the episode: Sando discusses his article, "Robert Kraft’s Hall of Fame credentials and what’s next." How do Spygate and Deflategate impact Kraft’s HOF candidacy? And do all signs point to Bill O’Brien returning?
Check out the latest episode of the Patriots Talk Podcast on the NBC Sports Boston Podcast Network, or watch on YouTube.