"We have an understanding," Kraft said of his relationship with Belichick, according to Albert Breer of The Boston Globe. "There’s not another head coach I would prefer to have over him."
Belichick is reported to be under contract with the Patriots through 2013, but Brady's contract expires at the conclusion of the 2010 season. That's something about which Kraft does not seem to be worried.
"Tom Brady will be part of this franchise," Kraft said, according to CSSNE.com's Tom E. Curran. "He wants to be. We want him to be. Great things happen if you're flexible, not rigid. We're not sleeping [on getting a new contract in place]. It's complicated."
Kraft also told CSNNE.com that he'd prefer Brady to be in Foxboro for voluntary offseason workouts, but that he understands that the quarterback has family responsibilities.
Kraft touched on a number of other topics, with the most newsworthy being his support of the proposal for a change in postseason overtime rules. The proposal calls for both teams to possess the ball in overtime of playoff games, unless the team that first gets the ball scores a touchdown.
"I think it will be more exciting," he said, according to ESPN reporter and NESN insider Mike Reiss. "Probably the coaches collectively aren't for this, because it just puts more decision making and more risk, but I think it's a good thing. It's another way that we keep working to improve our product."
Kraft also described a lingering emptiness in recalling the Patriots' stunning playoff loss to the Ravens in January.
"I think the chemistry, the locker room … a lot of games are won and lost before you hit the field,” Kraft said, according to Reiss. “To come out and start a game like the way we played, a playoff game at our stadium, that should never happen. It was really one of the frustrating moments I’ve had since owning the franchise. … It was such an empty feeling."
With workouts already taking place in Foxboro and the meetings under way in Orlando, that emptiness is becoming more and more a part of the past.
