The latest #LongRead from ESPN.com on Wednesday discusses All Things Belichick and includes a claim related to the Falcons and their potential interest in hiring Belichick. According to ESPN.com, if the Falcons had hired Belichick, the reported $25 million annual salary owed to him by the Kraft family would have been offset by Falcons owner Arthur Blank. However, a league source familiar with Belichick’s contract and separation agreement from the Patriots has stated that neither claim is accurate.
Regarding the first part of the claim, highly-compensated coaches often receive compensation from related companies in addition to their official team salary to control overall coaching-salary expenses. Concerning the second part of the claim, there would not have been a direct offset of any amount the Patriots owe Belichick for 2024, according to the source.
The report also mentions a broader claim that Patriots owner Robert Kraft provided Blank with negative information about Belichick, which influenced Blank’s decision not to hire him. This raises questions about why Kraft would prevent himself from reducing his financial obligation to Belichick if Belichick had accepted a position with the Falcons. The conflicting claims suggest that Kraft may have been willing to fulfill the full financial obligation to Belichick to prevent him from succeeding with the Falcons.
The idea that Kraft would attempt to avoid paying Belichick in order to hinder his chances of obtaining another job seems unlikely. The conflicting information presented in the report regarding financial obligations to Belichick and Kraft’s interactions with Blank raises doubts about the validity of these claims. Ultimately, the motivations behind these actions remain unclear.