Bill Belichick Says Patriots 'Sold Out' for Super Bowls in Recent Seasons

The bill finally came due in the view of New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick.

The Patriots are 2-5, and their hopes of a 12th straight playoff appearance are fading. Belichick argued this was inevitable because the franchise had taken a short-term view that would have long-term consequences.

"Look, we paid Cam Newton $1 million," Belichick said Monday on WEEI's Ordway, Merloni & Fauria. "I mean it's obvious we didn't have any money. It's nobody’s fault. That's what we did the last five years. We sold out and won three Super Bowls, played in a fourth and played in a AFC championship game. This year we had less to work with. It's not an excuse, it's just a fact."

Belichick had made similar comments to former assistant coach Charlie Weis during an interview on SiriusXM NFL Radio, which some read as an excuse for the team's poor start:

The Patriots entered the offseason with a little more than $35.1 million in salary-cap space. ESPN's Mike Reiss noted how that didn't account for how they would carry $13.5 million in dead money in the event Tom Brady signed with another team.

The NFL is different from the NBA and MLB because it utilizes a hard salary cap.

The luxury tax in the NBA and MLB can work to some extent as a cap as it makes maintaining success with the same players very costly—prohibitively expensive in some cases. The Boston Red Sox opted to trade David Price and Mookie Betts rather than run over the tax in 2020.

Belichick's sentiment seemed to align with the reality in the NBA or MLB more so than in the NFL, which doesn't necessary penalize big spenders. Creative teams in the NFL can restructure contracts or find ways to make cap space almost appear out of thin air.

The Patriots didn't do that, and the fact they didn't probably points to Belichick's true motives.

This was always supposed to be a transitional year. Until Newton signed in July, New England was positioning Jarrett Stidham as their starting quarterback, which isn't exactly a strategy you'd expect for a team with playoff ambitions. Then eight players opted out amid the COVID-19 pandemic, further deleting the roster.

Selling a rebuild to a fanbase that's used to seeing a Super Bowl contender every year isn't easy, so blaming finances provides an easier out.