Robert Kraft Reveals Timetable, Succession Plan for Patriots Ownership

Anyone keen to know if Robert Kraft will sell the New England Patriots got an emphatic answer from the 84-year-old, although it might not be what many hoped to hear.

Kraft sat down for an interview with ESPN’s Adam Schefter at the recent Fanatics Fest (h/t The Adam Schefter Podcast), and told the reporter, “In my lifetime, and I believe my children’s lifetime, we’re keeping control.”

Those words indicate the Kraft family will continue to determine the fortune of the Patriots for generations. To ensure this, Kraft explained his succession plan to Schefter: “As far as succession, succession is there. My eldest son, Jonathan, has been part of every key decision I’ve made for the last 30-odd years and is a full partner in everything. He stays out of the limelight.”

Kraft’s bullish determination not to relinquish control won’t please those who believe the ageing owner is as or more responsible than former head coach Bill Belichick for the Pats’ decline in recent years.

Belichick was canned in 2024 after overseeing the first of back-to-back 4-13 campaigns. Kraft’s chosen replacement Jerod Mayo proved out of his depth, so another former Patriots linebacker, Mike Vrabel, is now expected to bring back the glory years.

It’s a huge undertaking, but Kraft is already boldly predicting big things after putting himself at the forefront of this rebuild.

Robert Kraft Selling Quick Patriots Turnaround Under Mike Vrabel

Kraft wants fans to be ready for a special season because “the last two years were the worst years of my 31 years of ownership. We have to change that.”

Bringing Vrabel, who won three Super Bowls as a Patriots player in the 2000s, back to the franchise is the key part of the process. Kraft believes former Tennessee Titans boss Vrabel has “really connected with the players.”

Vrabel has been hired to change the culture and stop the rot, but it will take more than a strong bond to achieve both. That’s why Kraft let Vrabel and general manager Eliot Wolf spend big in free agency.

They added a $104 million game-changer on defense and also acquired All-Pro wide receiver Stefon Diggs to highlight a flurry of moves. Most of the signings were made to add star power to a roster that grew decidedly bland on Belichick’s watch, particularly after legendary quarterback Tom Brady left town in 2020.

Assigning blame for the rapid decline of the Patriots without Brady is no easy task, but Kraft and Belichick each have their share, although the latter may still hold a grudge.

Patriots Success Story Under Robert Kraft Fading Into the Past

The Kraft and Belichick partnership, which began in 2000, heralded two decades of dominance. A period that yielded nine Super Bowl appearances and six Lomardi Trophies after the Patriots happened on 199th pick Brady in the sixth round of Belichick’s first draft at the helm.

Before 2000, Kraft had been most famous for his bitter and public fallout with Bill Parcells. The latter transformed the Pats from perennial losers to legitimate Super Bowl contenders between 1993 and ’97, but Parcells and Kraft butted heads over control of personnel matters.

Their feud appears to finally be over after Kraft announced Parcells would join the franchise’s Hall of Fame this year. It’s a fitting tribute for the coach who did more than anyone to bring respectability to the Patriots after they’d spent years in the wilderness, winning just nine games in the three seasons before his arrival.

Today’s Patriots have endured a similarly fallow period thanks to a 16-35 record since the team’s last playoff appearance in 2021. Kraft would do well to remember the lessons from his time with Parcells and apply them to Vrabel’s tenure.

Lessons like letting the coach pick the talent. Like when Parcells used the 1995 draft to select cornerback Ty Law, middle linebacker Ted Johnson and running back Curtis Martin.

Parcells followed this class by taking safety Lawyer Milloy a year later, as well as hybrid defensive lineman Tedy Bruschi, a great conversion project who eventually settled at linebacker. An undrafted free-agent kicker named Adam Vinatieri was also signed on Parcells’ watch.

Law, Johnson Milloy, Bruschi and Vinatieri, as well as other Parcells’ draft finds, 1993 eighth-round wide receiver Troy Brown and ’94 first-rounder Willie McGinest, helped form the backbone of Belichick’s first Super Bowl-winning team in 2001.

Kraft must let Vrabel have the same say on recruitment, something Belichick claimed wasn’t always the owner’s practice. Whether that’s Belichick abdicating responsibility for four losing seasons out of his last five in the job, or a justified critique of Kraft’s meddling, will be revealed by how Vrabel fares building a new team in his own image.