Money is no Object!

Patriot-haters around the country have got to be getting a bit frustrated. What in the world is it going to take to break this organization apart? The NFL tried implementing a salary cap and that didn't work. And now it is becoming clear that money and good old-fashioned greed won't work either. Why do I say that? Because at least three teams tried using boatloads of cash to lure key staff members away from Foxboro this week and all three were brutaly rebuffed. This just doesn't happen in sports. Everyone knows that.

Well, everybody it seems, except people who get paid by Bob Kraft. For one reason or another, New England players and staff members never got the memo saying, "thou shalt uproot your family and jump at any job offering so long as it pays more then you will make in the foreseeable future." This memo is tantamount to the NFL's Ten Commandmants. Its almost as if Commisioner Paul Tagliabue went to the top of a mountain, spoke with God, and returned to his New York City offices with a set of new operating guidelines for the league.

While most of the league has bought into these guidelines, the Patriots have not, as the Cleveland Browns, Miami Dolphins and Seattle Seshawks found out this week. In the first instance, Miami and Cleveland each tried convincing New England secondary coach Eric Mangini to become their defensive coordiantor. Mangini said no thanks. Despite better financial offers, Mangini refused to cross Bill Belicheck and therefore he will be calling the defensive plays in New England next year. Mangs could have made more elsewhere, but like one Kansas schoolgirl, he decided there was no place like home. The same thing happened again this weekend when New England personnel director Scott Pioli rebuffed an offer from Seattle that would have placed him in charge of the entire Seahawk football operation. In doing so, Pioli reportedly turned down a five year package that would pay him fifteen million dollars. At three million dollars per year, Seattle's offer would have paid Pioli three times what he currently makes. When is the last time an NFL executive turned down an offer that would have tripled his salary? I can't answer that question, but I am guessing the list of instances is probably pretty short.

Mangs and Pioli are not the only ones in the organization who seem to be motivated by desires other then money. You want some examples. Well, Teddy Bruschi negotiated a contract extension last fall that was significantly below market value, perhaps by a factor of two. Matt Light also negotiated an extension last year that falls well below what a solid left tackle in the NFL pulls down every year. You want more examples - Ted Johnson has re-negotiated his contract several times over the past few years in order to help out the Patriots with their cap issues. The same goes for Troy Brown.

Although some New Englanders, like Damian Woody and Ted Washington. left for "greener" pastures, it is becoming clear that some sort of magnet effect exists in New England. Something is going on Foxboro that people enjoy and are in no hurry to forego. Maybe its Belicheck. Maybe its Kraft. Maybe its just that people don't want to leave a successful organization and chance ending up in a hopeless spot where wins occur at the same rate as solar eclipses. I don't really have all the answers, but I can spot a trend when I see it and this is a bonafide trend.

What does this mean for the rest of the league? Well, it certainly is not a positive. The NFL's principal instrument for ensuring the breakup of dynasties is its salary cap, but the Patriots appear to be fairly resistant to this form of Kryptonite. The organization has always made smart and forward-looking cap decisions and as a result, the Patriots never find themselves liquidating in the offseason. Sure, players do come and go, as Damian Woody did last year, but the Patriots have never had an offseason where there are four or five major cap casualties. This year will be no different. There will some minor defections, but for a Super Bowl champion, this team is coming back virtually intact.

Well, since the cap has failed to bring this team back to earth, the NFL's deep pockets tried to do the next best thing - pillage the organization of its brainpower. But this strategy appears to have failed as well, at least for the time being. This is a real problem for the league. It has shot its two arrows but its prey remains unscathed. Now, some people are hoping that this battle will finally be won when the Patriots are forced to pay Tom Brady what he so rightly deserves. This may end up proving true, but I am betting that Brady - like Brushci and Light and Mangs and Piloi - will not let his own greed endanger this organization. He will get paid, but like his brethren, Brady feels at home in New England and will stay even though a larger pot of gold lies over the horizon. That is the way things work in New England. Just ask Paul Allen and the rest of the Seattle Seahawk organization.