Uncovering the Truth: The Conflicting Claims Surrounding Bill Belichick’s Potential Hiring by the Atlanta Falcons and Robert Kraft’s Role

A recent ESPN.com report has shed light on the potential impact of hiring Bill Belichick as head coach for the Atlanta Falcons. According to the article, if the Falcons had hired Belichick, he would have been owed an annual salary of $25 million, which would have been offset by owner Arthur Blank. However, a league source with knowledge of Belichick’s contract and separation agreement from the Patriots has refuted these claims. It is common for highly-compensated coaches to receive official salaries from their team and unofficial compensation from related companies in order to control coaching-salary curves.

The report also suggests that Patriots owner Robert Kraft may have provided Blank with negative information about Belichick, leading Blank to decide not to hire him. The inconsistency in these claims raises questions about why Kraft would be willing to pay the full obligation to Belichick rather than potentially offsetting some of it if he had taken another job. It is unlikely that Kraft would go to such lengths to prevent Belichick from being successful with the Falcons by avoiding payment.

In summary, the conflicting claims in the report regarding Belichick’s potential salary with the Falcons and Kraft’s actions to prevent him from getting the job raise doubts about the accuracy of the information presented. It is unclear why Kraft would choose to pay the full obligation to Belichick rather than explore options to offset it if he had found employment elsewhere. The true motivations behind these actions remain unclear.