Who's reporting to Kraft?

Who’s Reporting to Kraft?

There’s been a lot said and a lot written about Robert Kraft’s meeting with the media down in Orlando earlier this week. This author was one of the voices among the many. One of the things that stood out was when Kraft said he wasn’t aware of the daycare issue in the NFLPA’s survey, even though some of the same issues were raised in last year’s survey. 

In the same interview, Kraft mentioned that the fate of Eliot Wolf would be decided after the draft. In the Herald this week, Doug Kyed and Andrew Callahan added this follow-up note: 

Kraft has received positive feedback about Wolf dating back to the combine, and the belief is that if all goes well during the draft, he’s the odds-on favorite to land the top role in the front office moving forward.

Here’s our question: Who’s reporting to Kraft? 

Ownership has made it a priority to let everyone know within 25,000 miles that they will not make the football decisions. We all should agree that that’s in the best interest of the football team. But, that also implies that Robert and Jonathan aren’t keeping a Wolf journal about his day-to-day activities and actions. 

Should we believe that Robyn Glaser is the one reporting back to Kraft? 

If so, here’s the problem with that: Glaser is not a football person. She’s a legal eagle “point person.” She majors in contractual matters, league rules, etc. We’d say that makes Glaser NOT the most qualified person to report back to the owner on the performance of the top football executive. 

If it’s not Glaser, then who could it be? Any other names would bring another assortment of questions and possible issues within the franchise’s dynamic. It’d be a bad idea if it were Jerod Mayo, a first-time head coach with his own world to be concerned with. Also, at the league meetings, it certainly seemed like Mayo would have loved to tell everyone that it’s not his job to evaluate talent, acquire talent, or draft that talent. 

Anyone in the front office would be a TERRIBLE scenario. It’d make zero sense to have someone who’s below Wolf in the Patriots’ front office totem pole, reporting back to Kraft. And, frankly, if that person was to be put in that position, why not just name that guy the top dog? It would also open the door to outright sabotage, if that person wanted to eventually be the one making the final calls. 

So, again…we’d love to know: Who’s reporting back to Kraft? Is it as bad as the reporting back to Robert seemed regarding the survey? And, if so, how do we trust the process of evaluating Wolf? How do we trust the process that led to promoting Wolf in the first place?

Dear Peters & Kugler: Good Luck!

There’s been SO MUCH Patriots news, notes, acquisitions, and everything in between, that it feels like it was six months ago when the team put together its coaching staff. One of the most important hires who didn’t get nearly as much attention was Offensive Line Coach Scott Peters. Peters along with his assistant, Robert Kugler, have a lot to fix after the debacle of 2023.

That challenge might be even tougher than we might have imagined. Earlier this week Mayo mentioned Chukwuma Okorafor as an option at left tackle, after it had been reported that the Patriots look at Okorafor as a possible solution on the left side. Yes, Okorafor played the left side in college. However, he’s played all of two snaps at the NFL level. 

Then, if that wasn’t interesting enough, Mayo also mentioned Michael Onwenu as a possibility. You know, the guy who’s going to be training full-time this offseason/preseason for the first time at tackle. Isn’t that a big enough transition for Onwenu, let alone also asking him to switch sides? 

The third option, of course, is drafting a young OT in about a month and handing that guy the keys. If the Patriots end up using #3 on a QB and #34 on a WR, then that means you’re hoping a 3rd-round pick can waltz into camp and win that job. 

None of the above options are ideal for Peters and Kugler. Oh, and did we mention that they’ll also be in charge of developing Siddy Sow into a full-time RG and might have to shuffle things up at LG if Cole Strange isn’t ready to go due to his injury last season. 

Good luck, fellas. 

Here’s the good news: If this line shines, you’ll be praised and it shouldn’t be very difficult to find a promotion somewhere within the league. Especially for Kugler, who reportedly is already seen as an up-and-coming name within NFL circles. 

Let’s Go, Red Sox! No…Seriously.

We’re rooting for the Red Sox this season and rooting HARD. We get that that would make John Henry look good for his fugazi approach to the offseason. But, after the Sox passed on signing Jordan Mongtomery to a ridiculously affordable deal, we want this clubhouse to prove all the pessimists wrong. (If you’re wondering, this space has them at 77 wins)

Rafeal Devers deserves better. Trevor Story deserves better. Brayan Bello shouldn’t be pushed into being an ace, because your ONE prized offseason signing is out for the year. Or, because you didn’t want to sign Montgomery or Blake Snell. And, the fans surely don’t deserve another bottom of the AL East finish. 

The Sox making things interesting and maybe even sneaking into the Wild Card would be a great story. It would give us something to enjoy this summer. It would show us all that the young nucleus that’s starting to come together might actually be a reason for a golden age ahead.

In a disturbing thought during one of our podcast episodes this week, we made mention of the movie “Major League.” Aside from being one of our favorites, it also did a fantastic job of casting Margaret Whitton as the villainous owner, Rachel Phelps. Of course, in the film, the clubhouse joins together with one common goal: Ruin Phelps’ deal to move the team to Miami. 

Not everything works with this real-life-to-movie analogy, since again, Henry would love the Sox to win. And, I’m sure that the clubhouse would NOT love the idea of stripping down a cardboard cutout of ‘Ole Johnny. But, man, we’d get a kick out of this team proving everyone wrong. 

Go get ‘em, Sox!

Celtics Can’t Get Too Cute

Breaking news: The Celtics have been dominant. Whenever a team can clinch the number one seed before teams clinch a playoff spot, yes, that’s domination. But, with that domination comes a delicate balancing act for Joe Mazzulla and the coaching staff. You have to rest the guys a certain amount, while making sure they don’t let go of the rope. 

This brings us to the Hawks' loss earlier this week. The C’s decided to have Jayson Tatum run point for most of the game. It worked early, as the Celtics got up by THIRTY points. But, as the game went on, the lineup quirk caught up to the team on both ends of the floor. 

Which leads us to this one prevailing thought: Don’t get too cute. There’s little chance that the final handful or so of games in this regular season will “junk up” the team and what they've built. But, getting too experimental while playing out the string could end up being detrimental.

We should have confidence with the experience added to the coaching staff that they’ll handle things the right way and this team will be ready to play its best basketball during its most meaningful games. Hopefully.