While it’s true that the New England Patriots reached into the team’s past to secure the franchise’s future, Mike Vrabel’s arrival does so in more ways than Robert Kraft may care to believe. It wasn’t long ago that the franchise wriggled itself free of the Bill Belichick regime, in part, to get a hand back on the steering wheel.
Despite all the inferences to the contrary, Belichick was, until the day he left, an emperor in Foxborough; the body of water to which all channels led. As an owner, Kraft enjoyed the spoils of this setup and, eventually, soured on the frustrations of it. Despite owning the team, it had to have felt like Belichick was truly more powerful than the person signing his checks.
