{"id":1553977,"date":"2023-03-15T21:08:14","date_gmt":"2023-03-16T01:08:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/?p=1553977"},"modified":"2023-03-15T21:08:16","modified_gmt":"2023-03-16T01:08:16","slug":"bill-belichick-50-million-mistake-should-give-his-boss-major-cause-concern","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/bill-belichick-50-million-mistake-should-give-his-boss-major-cause-concern\/","title":{"rendered":"Bill Belichick's $50 Million Mistake Should Give His Boss Major Cause for Concern"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Just because billionaires can lose millions and not blink an eye doesn\u2019t mean they should tolerate their money being foolishly squandered. Unfortunately for <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/tag\/new-england-patriots\/\">New England Patriots<\/a> owner Robert Kraft, his highest-paid employee\u2019s expensive blunder leaves his beloved team with a sizable chunk of dead money and a huge hole at a key position.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As a smart businessman who understands what it takes to enjoy sustained success in the pro football world, Kraft simply can\u2019t ignore the sheer amount of money, time, and resources <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/tag\/bill-belichick\/\">Bill Belichick<\/a> wasted by betting big on Jonnu Smith. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And if the well-respected owner already had doubts about Belichick\u2019s ability to construct a championship-caliber roster that doesn\u2019t include <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/after-trading-for-jalen-ramsey-time-dolphins-ditch-tua-tagovailoa-tom-brady\/\">Tom Brady<\/a>, the opening day of free agency should have given him even more reason to worry about the Patriots\u2019 path moving forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-trading-jonnu-smith-brought-a-swift-end-to-a-disappointing-era\">Trading Jonnu Smith brought a swift end to a disappointing era<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\ud83d\udea8 TRADE \ud83d\udea8<br><br>The Patriots are trading Jonnu Smith to the Falcons, per <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RapSheet?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@RapSheet<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Mj9I6a58xh\">pic.twitter.com\/Mj9I6a58xh<\/a><\/p>&mdash; PFF (@PFF) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PFF\/status\/1635299508316942338?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 13, 2023<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Instead of becoming a key weapon for a talent-starved Patriots offense, Jonnu Smith will go down as arguably the worst free-agent signing of Bill Belichick\u2019s career. Expected to be a key playmaker for Mac Jones, the former Tennessee Titan didn\u2019t come close to delivering on his four-year, $50 million deal in either of his first two seasons in New England. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Between his lackluster production (55 catches for 539 yards and one touchdown) and expensive contract, Smith had two major factors working against a return to Foxborough. And on Monday, the Patriots admitted defeat by trading the veteran tight end to the Atlanta Falcons for a measly seventh-round pick. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In a move that essentially amounted to a straight salary dump (and a massive black mark on Belichick\u2019s general manager resume), New England sold as low as possible on a player who provided pennies-on-the-dollar production. Although trading Smith freed up $4.4 million in cap space for 2023, it will cost the Patriots financial flexibility in the future, as the deal will result in $12.8 million in dead-money charges. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On one hand, sending Smith and his bloated salary to the NFC South showed Belichick at least had the self-awareness to realize he couldn\u2019t keep the experiment going. At the same time, though, he shouldn\u2019t get credit for cutting ties with one of the most high-profile acquisitions of his career.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-can-robert-kraft-truly-trust-bill-belichick-to-do-what-s-best-anymore\">Can Robert Kraft truly trust Bill Belichick to do what\u2019s best anymore?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1250\" height=\"833\" src=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Bill-Belichick-New-England-Patriots.jpg?w=925&#038;strip=all&#038;quality=89\" alt=\"Bill Belichick during a Patriots-Bengals matchup in December 2022\" class=\"wp-image-1553981\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Head coach Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots looks on during the second half against the Cincinnati Bengals at Gillette Stadium on December 24, 2022 | Winslow Townson\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Signing Smith to a $50 million contract and failing to find a way to put his skills to good use is just the latest example of Belichick struggling to identify and utilize skill players effectively. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How many more misses can he afford before his boss steps in? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Guaranteeing Smith $31.5 million and getting 55 catches back was a gross misuse of Kraft\u2019s funds. So was using a first-round pick on <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/patriots-failed-nkeal-harry-experiment-should-put-bill-belichick-hot-seat\/\">N\u2019Keal Harry<\/a> in 2019, who made $8.4 million across three injury-marred seasons before Belichick dealt him to Chicago for a 2024 seventh-round pick.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Oh, let\u2019s not forget about another member of the Patriots\u2019 record-setting spending spree from 2021 who\u2019s been a complete disaster: Nelson Agholor. Rather than serving as a reliable deep-ball threat, the drop-prone receiver totaled just 68 catches for 835 yards and five touchdowns &#8212; all while playing on a two-year, $22 million contract.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Plus, even though it\u2019s premature to call Tyquan Thornton a bust, he certainly showed he has a long way to go to develop into a consistent target in the passing game. After totaling just 22 catches for 247 yards and two touchdowns, the 2022 second-round pick needs to take a substantial leap if he wants to avoid being the latest addition to Belichick\u2019s collection of draft misfires. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With Smith headlining a growing list of personnel blunders, Belichick\u2019s cache continues to take a hit. Kraft may have all the respect in the world for what his longtime coach <em>has<\/em> accomplished, but he should also have all options on the table when it comes to Belichick\u2019s future in Foxborough. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If the Patriots fail to rebuild their offense and set their third-year quarterback up for success, how can Kraft run things back in 2024? Letting Jakobi Meyers walk for a palatable price already seems like a mistake by Belichick, and trading away an underperforming but talented player for a Day 3 pick definitely didn\u2019t do anything to quiet the narrative that the architect of the most successful dynasty in <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/nfl\/\">NFL<\/a> history can no longer do his job.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Oh, the irony. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bill Belichick swung and missed on Jonnu Smith and Robert Kraft should be concerned.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":150,"featured_media":1553981,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[4992,4904,5100],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.3 (Yoast SEO v22.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Bill Belichick&#039;s $50 Million Mistake Should Concern Robert Kraft - Sports7<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Jonnu Smith is one of several mistakes Bill Belichick has made lately. 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