As Pablo Torre digs deeper into Bill Belichick’s situation at Chapel Hill, the journalist has uncovered some things that date back to the coach’s time in New England.
On a recent episode of “Pablo Torre Finds Out,” Torre has taken a closer look at Michael Lombardi’s background. A long-time associate of Belichick’s, the general manager has worked alongside Belichick at three different stops.
Lombardi was brought to New England in 2014 after being fired following just one season as Cleveland’s general manager and vice president. According to Torre, Lombardi’s presence brought immediate turbulence to New England’s front office.
“Mike Lombardi gets into that building and ends up getting into various power struggles with other executives,” Torre said. “Lombardi was quote, ‘Internally disruptive.’”
Because he was fired so quickly in Cleveland, the Browns were still paying Lombardi’s salary while he worked in New England. Per Torre, things came to a head in 2016 when Lombardi’s Browns contract expired.
“What I am told with no ambiguity is that Mike Lombardi is fired by the Patriots because Bob Kraft, the owner of the team, tells Bill Belichick, in a rare instance of him overruling a personnel preference or desire, ‘You’ve got to get rid of him,’” Torre said. “The backdrop being there was quote, ‘Basically a mutiny in the building among not just staffers but players if he were to remain in the building.’”
Lombardi said it was his decision to leave and departed the organization in June of 2016. The Patriots won Super Bowl LI the following February — eight months after Lombardi’s departure — and apparently Belichick did something extraordinary.
“Bill Belichick, I am told, personally bought and presented Lombardi with a Super Bowl ring,” Torre said. “Not an official team-issued A grade ring with real diamonds in it and all that, but the kind that a top executive could buy for his family members.”
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