How Long Has Bill Belichick-Robert Kraft’s Relationship Been Broken?

The tension between former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and owner Robert Kraft started long before the 2023 season.

But with an inadequate 4-13 campaign, the relationship fractured further, leading to the "mutual" agreement to part ways on Thursday.

The Patriots won six Super Bowl titles with Belichick at the helm, but according to ESPN's Seth Wickersham and Wright Thompson's lengthy report, the relationship began to crack when Belichick reportedly wanted to move on from Brady, and even though Kraft may not have agreed, he backed his coach instead of the star quarterback.

"With the conflict between his two most important employees now out in the open, Kraft took on the job of making Brady happy, offering connection and compliments and joy in an otherwise dour Belichick atmosphere," Wickersham and Thompson wrote. "New England won two more Super Bowls, against the Seattle Seahawks and Atlanta Falcons, both with Brady-authored comebacks and situational defensive brilliance from Belichick. A tricky dynamic ensued, with Kraft acting as a referee between the two alphas."

Brady led the Patriots to their sixth and final Super Bowl victory in 2019, and according to Wicksersham and Thompson, "Kraft and Belichick both had decided to let Brady go. No matter how much Kraft tried to distance himself from that decision, he approved it."

When Kraft invited Brady back to Gillette Stadium this season for a halftime ceremony, the quarterback's family spent a lot of time with the owner, at his home for dinner the night before the game and in his suite for the Patriots-Eagles game. They never spoke to Belichick during the trip, according to the report.

The Patriots owner apparently would "put down Belichick at every opportunity," a source close to Kraft supposedly revealed to Wickersham and Thompson.

This game was no different. Kraft's open mocking of Belichick -- a common line was "the great, intelligent man" -- was the worst-kept secret in New England. Although he denied saying it through a team spokesperson, Kraft used that line too many times to too many people for it to remain a secret.

The question remains if the tension was so great and Kraft didn't endorse all of Belichick's decisions, why did it take so long for the team to move on?