If Patriots keep status quo, Krafts are saying Belichick was to blame - and they are now front and center

Basically, this is the Krafts — namely Jonathan Kraft because multiple sources around the team believe he will be the driving force behind football operations now, even if he touts his need to oversee all of the Kraft Group businesses — saying two things:

-  Belichick was solely to blame for the fall of the franchise, he failed to utilize all the talent and resources he was provided

-  No need to look hard around the league at anything, they are smarter than everyone else

You know who else thought he knew better than anyone and closed themselves off from potentially doing things a different way? Belichick.

How did that go at the end?

The Krafts' meddling in the final years of Belichick's reign — giving Mayo the successor-in-waiting contract language, demanding changes in offensive coaching and doubling down on Mac Jones — is believed by some in the building as a big reason why last season was as bad as it was.

The decision to give Mayo the contract extension was completely premature. At the time, he had only been an assistant coach for four years and was not calling defensive plays under game pressure (and he still hasn't). In the previous instances of this contract language being implemented, all three were preplanned for retirement in conjunction with the head coach (Mike Holmgren to Jim Mora Jr.; Tony Dungy to Jim Caldwell; Ozzie Newsome to Eric DeCosta) and featured successors who had no-doubt qualifications.

At least two of the successors, Mora and DeCosta, had standing offers to take over other teams, which necessitated the strong language in the contract. It's unknown how close Caldwell was to getting another job — he had interviewed with the Ravens and four days later pulled out to get his extension — but he was knocking on the door as Peyton Manning's QB coach. "There’s been a lot of interest in Jim over the last couple of years with head coaching interviews," owner Jim Irsay said at the time. "We thought it was in our best interests to have a transition plan in place that would allow Jim to know that he’s a guy that in the future that I look to be our head coach someday. But I said someday because this isn’t a victory lap tour for Tony.”

Mayo, while an impressive candidate who deserved interviews around the league, was nowhere near at the level of the previous instances where this device was used. In his previous interviews, according to multiple league sources, Mayo was impressive but most thought he was extremely green and didn't know what he doesn't know. He turned down an interview with the Panthers a year ago when the Krafts gave him this contract language.

What they should have done was let Mayo interview wherever he wanted to. If he landed an offer to be a head coach then, absolutely, give him that contract extension. Even if Mayo was offered a defensive coordinator spot on another team, the Krafts should have encouraged him to take it to gain even more valuable experience outside the building under another head coach, with different assistant coaches and a different offensive philosophy. They could have assured Mayo that as soon as they had an opening, he would be their top choice. How much better prepared would Mayo be to be the successor to Belichick with that background, even if it was for one season?

Instead, Mayo takes the reigns having been a Patriots player and assistant coach only. The only NFL building he knows is One Patriot Place. There is little doubt Mayo is a departure from Belichick in a variety of ways, including being personable, a passionate leader, and more open to modern-day tools thanks to his business background. But when push comes to shove and Mayo has a make a big call under the gun, isn't he just going to default to, 'What would Bill do?' What other way does he know? How has that worked for career Patriots assistants as head coaches of other teams?

And by passing on their first coaching search in 25 years, the Krafts lost an invaluable opportunity to mine the rest of the league — which has passed The Patriot Way — in a number of areas, including salary cap management, analytics, offensive schemes, etc., to see how the Patriots can improve. Why not put Mayo up against Mike Vrabel, Jim Harbaugh, Ben Johnson and other top head coaching prospects to see if Mayo is really as good as the Krafts think he is? Either you wind up confirming your belief, or you find a better way forward for the franchise — a win-win. Say Vrabel came in and it was obvious he was a better candidate than Mayo. The Patriots could have convinced Mayo to stay as defensive coordinator. If he didn't like it, too bad. If Mayo got a head coaching job, the Patriots would have received two third-round compensatory picks. So, in this scenario, the Patriots would have gotten a better coach for this time and helped rebuild this team at the same time.

Also, by not taking this opportunity to listen to the rest of the league, the Krafts are even further behind should Mayo not make it past the three-year precedent they have set with the ousters of Carroll and Belichick. The Patriots could have interviewed a variety of people that they could monitor in case Mayo needed to be replaced. Perhaps they could have found impressive coaches to fill out Mayo's staff - possibly a new offensive approach.

The plan was not for Mayo to be the coach in 2024. The plan was 2025 at the earliest. This 4-13 season, which the Krafts had a hand in, changed everything for this franchise — and that should have included the succession plan. Contracts are made to be broken - the Krafts could have changed their mind and paid off Mayo's contract or reworked it. Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth. This season was that punch. That should have set off a reassessment. Instead, it caused an untenable situation on the staff where Mayo was quite obviously not worried about his future and planning for it while the season and the jobs of many others went down the tubes. 

On the personnel side, I have a great deal of respect, given their varied background with multiple teams and from talking to those who have worked alongside them, for Wolf and Patrick Stewart. Groh is very much unproven but the Krafts like him, and Groh is extremely intelligent. Steve Cargile (pro director), Camren Wiliams (college director) and Brian Smith (personnel coordinator) all have good reputations.

It's not like the Patriots are going to be operating with a bunch of rank amateurs.

But the decision to enter the biggest opportunity to remake this franchise — with $65 million in cap space, 13 key free agents, the third overall pick — without even considering a fresh perspective in personnel is audacious, if not a dereliction of duty. Robert said this week that he views his family "as the custodian of this asset – the New England Patriots" and that "we have a responsibility to do what we can to fix it to the best of our ability."

"I promise you I'll be focused to do the best I can do to make sure we're putting ourselves in the best long-term position to win for many years.

How does not looking beyond the building for answers constitute putting the team in the best position to be successful long-term? Isn't this what sent Belichick into a downward spiral? This is a new era?

I understand the Krafts have never hired a general manager, preferring to go the VP of personnel route, but the possibility of adding a new head of personnel after all the huge decisions for the next five years are made ... well, talk about the horse being out of the barn. Might as well hire Lt. Sam Weinberg as VP of Personnel: "I have no responsibilities here whatsoever."

Somebody has to be the point person on the vision for this football team going forward. Personnel was run off Belichick's crusty script from his Browns days for decades. Will the Patriots still be looking for the same players? Are they changing the parameters? Who's changing them? Mayo? Who decides how the Patriots are going to allocate their resources to get a QB, fix the line and get real receivers?

Get ready to hear a lot about collaboration and teamwork. Bet we hear something about how they won't do anything without consensus. Remember how the closer-by-committee thing went for the Red Sox.

This smells like the Patriots are moving closer to the Cowboys model with Robert in the Jerry Jones role, Jonathan heading up everything like Stephen Jones. Let's hope Mayo isn't Jason Garrett, the Jones' favored son who was deemed the heir apparent to Wade Phillips (Garrett was signed even before Phillips got the HC job).

Also, don't underestimate the egos involved here. The Krafts never liked how they didn't get the same credit as Belichick and Brady as this went on. Belichick got most of the credit until Brady proved himself elsewhere, and most of it swung to No. 12. The Krafts were always in the background ruminating about the lack of respect for trading for Belichick, empowering him and keeping the peace, to the point they released a commissioned book touting ownership's role in the greatest NFL dynasty (coming to Apple TV very soon).

If the Krafts are right about all of this — firing Belichick, hiring Mayo and organizing personnel around them — then they can stake their claim to being on equal footing for credit with Belichick and Brady, and probably that much closer to the Hall of Fame for Robert.

If Belichick goes on to pull his own Brady, winning a Super Bowl with another team, while the Patriots continue to be just like every other team in his wake, then the Krafts take a big hit. The dynasty would have been Brady, and then Belichick - and that's it.

With Belichick no longer the shield, now it's all on the Krafts, for better or worse.

Be careful what you wish for.