Yes, there’s nothing like a Bill Belichick pre-NFL draft press conference, virtual or otherwise.

Belichick spoke with the media on Thursday, after a bad 7-9 season, after the stunning re-signing of Cam Newton, and after the even more stunning spending spree in team (and perhaps NFL) history, and the comments by team owner Robert Kraft on the Patriots’ poor drafting of late.

This is a little different time for Belichick. He’s under the gun. Kraft noted that the Patriots ways of operating have undergone a little bit of a change, and many have taken that to mean that he’s delegating more or listening to his scouts more, etc. He mentioned his new player personnel man, Dave Ziegler, plus Eliot Wolf and Matt Groh (scouting). He played the game.

And he did acknowledge Kraft’s comments when asked.

“Yeah, well, we’re always looking to get better, always trying to evaluate everything we do and find a better way to do it,” Belichick said. “That’s not necessarily an annual process with the draft, but something we do on a regular basis throughout the course of the season….

“Always looking to do a better job. There are some things that last year that were unique to the draft process. As I mentioned, some of those are similar this year, some are different. We certainly use some of that experience to improve the process this year, at least we felt like we improved it this year.”

But Belichick made sure to get that “make the decisions that we feel are best for the football team” in, as expected.

And those decisions were also made in free agency. Belichick was asked if it was an acknowledgement that he didn’t surround Newton with enough talent.

“Well again, the process this offseason was to, as it always is, to try to improve the team and do everything we can to make ourselves as competitive as we can this year,” Belichick said, saying that’s the way it is every year.

But this had a twist.

“We had several years in free agency where we were one of the least cash spending teams in the league,” he noted, “and then this year that changed and balanced it off.

“That’s really what you have in the NFL – teams that don’t spend then spend and teams spend and then there are years when they don’t spend. It averages out over a period of time.”

But last season went against the average, and the Patriots were a bit below average.

They don’t want to be average. Belichick can’t afford to have them be average. Which makes one wonder what he will do with the quarterback position.

What does he think of the QBs in this draft class?

“When you look at the players at that position, I think you see a lot of differences in the 2020 season,” Belichick said. “A lot of it’s by conference but there are some other circumstances as well.

“It’s an interesting class. It’s an interesting group of guys. Some are very strong in some skills. Some seem very strong in other skills.

“It’s definitely and interesting group.”

And it was certainly an interesting chat with one Bill Belichcik on Thursday.

Can’t wait for two weeks from now. It may not be business as usual for the Patriots when the draft begins.

Tom King can be reached at tking@nashuatelegraph.com, or on twitter @Telegraph _TomK.

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