New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft cautioned Arthur Blank, his Atlanta Falcons counterpart, against hiring Bill Belichick in January, sources told ESPN’s Don Van Natta Jr., Seth Wickersham, and Jeremy Fowler.
“Robert called Arthur to warn him not to trust Bill,” a source close to Belichick said.
Belichick, the former Patriots coach who won six Super Bowls with the franchise, was widely perceived to be the front-runner for the Falcons’ job this offseason. But Atlanta went in a different direction, hiring Raheem Morris after Blank and Belichick met on the owner’s yacht.
A spokesperson for Kraft denied that the owner said anything negative about Belichick during his conversations with Blank.