By far, the most amazing thing about parenthood is watching how children learn stuff. Every time, you see a neurological spark that connects a cause to an effect your heart swells: “My kid’s a forking genius.” The kid sees a stopped bus then he sees the red light. Then says: ‘bus stop at red lights’. “My kid’s a forking genius.” Every time he notifies me “I poop”…. I greet the disgusting revelation with “My kid’s a forking genius.”
It’s the most amazing thing to witness. And yet it happens to every parent, for every kid. Language, understanding spatial relationships and even the tenants of physics are innate naturally developed cognitive skills. My son learned Einstein’s theory of gravity the first time he walked down the stairs carrying three trucks, did a “yard sale” and bloodied his chin. “Fork! My kid’s not a genius.” But one thing that child professionals, teachers and pediatricians tell you is that the concept of sharing is not innate. There is no inherent understanding for humans to share. If you left four kids in a Biosphere, they would likely never learn to share. Sharing is a learned trait, instilled by the teachings of families, parents, mentors, religions and communities.
And as we know Bill Belichick is happy to share… some things. He always shares credit graciously, he shares his personal feelings about how dumb writers are with aplumb, he shares his workplace with his children, his life with a spouse or girlfriend, but there’s one thing that he has had a pretty hard time sharing over the years. Final say over roster construction.
Everyone does their job. Brady is the CEO on offense, the Krafts are the CEOs of the company and Belichick is the CEO of the roster. That is the biggest reason that he is in New England in the first place. He was promised limited owner intervention into the team building aspect, also the fact that the Jets suck donkey butts. And let’s just say that after 5 Super Bowls, 16 going on 17 winning seasons, 14 AFC East titles, it’s been a good recipe for success. Stay in your lane.
But at appears on first blush that Trading Jimmy G marks a huge forking fork in the road.
A Belichick roster construction commandment brought down from Moses is: Thou Shalt Always Have A Succession Plan. If the Patriots move on from Chandler Jones it’s because they have talent on the roster that can replace his production. That’s why “next man up” works here better than anywhere else because the personnel department is always thinking 3 years down the road of succession. The only loyalty they have had in the past is to succession. If that means acquiring draft picks for stars, if that means acquiring stars for draft picks or if that means acquiring draft picks for draft picks, they’re eyes are always on the horizon. They know who they are now, they who they were and they who they need to be. Like a sentient robot, they are aware of their strengths and limitations with almost comic emotional ambivalence.
Belichick had deftly orchestrated the succession plan. By all internal evaluations, they had the next great QB behind Brady in Jimmy Garoppolo. Selecting a gem in the 3rd round. And when they saw him play during Brady’s suspension, they knew they had it. Elite. Brady came back and they won the Super Bowl. But the decision loomed and it stands to reason that there was some thought in the building that the succession plan might be enacted.
Ryan Burr reported that Brady’s camp has had growing concern that faced with a 40 year old GOAT, Belichick would try to re-sign Jimmy long term and trade Brady. And that seems directly in line with their philosophy. If they think they can get ten years of elite QB play out of Garoppolo at the expense of 4 years of Brady, they will make that decision, loyalty be damned. While we don’t know all the details, at least what is playing out publically reveals that the previous unbroken separation of powers has been challenged. This isn’t the first time, but this is the first time that Belichick has seemed to acknowledged it.
Bill Belichick and his personnel department do not hesitate to pull the plug. They’ve moved on from great players while they’re still great like Richard Seymour and Chandler Jones. They’ve moved on from formerly great players who have been loyal like Vince Wilfork. They’ve moved on from talented malcontents like Randy Moss and Jamie Collins. And now they’ve moved on from a potential franchise quarterback because Robert Kraft wanted to send a message to his favorite player and his GM and coach.
Kraft said that as long as he owns the team Brady is a Patriot. If it’s a choice between head and heart, Kraft chose heart and we know what Belichick would have chosen. Belichick practically acknowledged this in his press conference. To listen to Michael Lombardi talk on the GM Street podcast, he wondered aloud “how long will Belichick be coaching the Patriots?” Until now, Belichick has been free to make any personnel move he wants without ownership intervention.
If you watched that press conference, you’d have thought a little piece of his soul died. He was more morose than usual, more depressed than morose, actually. And that’s because when it comes to the thing that he is better than anyone else in the world at, he isn’t interested in sharing. The fallout, too, has been revealing.
Rather than signing a young back-up, Belichick quickly signed Brian Hoyer to a 3-year deal. Both the personnel choice and the length of the deal seem extremely ominous. Hoyer will be 35 at the end of his contract. Hoyer is a willing back-up who understands the offense, can succeed in it and would be serviceable in a pinch. But he’s not a 10-year option. If a 32 year old Brian Hoyer is your back-up, you’re no longer developing the position. You’re set. That contract is a message from Belichick to Kraft, “if you want to dictate who my starting quarterback is, I am going to stop investing at the position. Brady will have no competition behind him, he is our QB until he or Kraft decides that he’s not. We will abandon our core roster construction commandment: thou shalt always have a succession plan.” I mean, I have a hard time reading the contract any other way.
This was a player versus GM fight and the player won.
How does that sit in the GMs head after all of the success? Is Lombardi right? Is this the trade and the Hoyer contract a sign that Belichick will walk away sooner rather than later? Does Kraft’s veto of Belichick’s succession plan for Brady immediately initiate Belichick’s secession plan for Belichick? #wordplay. Sharing isn’t innate, it can be learned, but, do we expect Belichick to let this go?
This was a ‘line in the sand’ move and I don’t think there’s any coming back from it.
I freaked about Belichick quitting out of the blue last year, but like Belichick always says: it’s better to be a year early than a year late.
Difficult to challenge the thinking involved that concludes as a rather melancholic note .
In Matters of Style Go With The Flow ;
In Matters of Principle Stand Like a Rock .
Eye Yi Yi !