After speaking with coach Bill Belichick and owner Robert Kraft at the NFL owners’ meetings in Palm Beach, here are some leftover Patriots thoughts and questions as the NFL Draft approaches.Kraft is ready for resultsKraft made it clear he expects the Patriots to contend “as soon as this year.” He’s unhappy the team hasn’t won a playoff game in three seasons, and he wasn’t happy the team needed to resort to free agency to build a team after struggling in the draft in the four years prior to that.But he also stopped short of putting too much pressure on Bill Belichick. He defended Belichick’s coaching staff and his unconventional approach of not naming coordinators by pointing to his results. Yes, Kraft wants more results than the Patriots have gotten the last three seasons.But there’s a difference between Kraft identifying with the frustrations of the fanbase and him legitimately putting pressure on Belichick. Belichick has earned a longer runway than that. That’s not to say Kraft’s impatience won’t grow if the team doesn’t get results in the next couple of years, but it’s still early in this version of the rebuild.What’s with the lack of spending?As tight as the Patriots are against the cap, this week in Palm Beach brought into focus that their free-agent approach was more a matter of philosophy than it was about ownership not wanting to spend. While Kraft has mentioned his desire to build through the draft, that isn’t because he’s not willing to spend money.
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