New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft on free-agent spending: In business to win

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, whose team went on a free-agent splurge that broke the NFL record for guaranteed money spent on signings, described the aggressive approach as strategic.

"It's like investing in the stock market," Kraft said, according to the "Football Morning In America" column. "You take advantage of corrections and inefficiencies in the market when you can, and that's what we did here. We'll see. Nothing is guaranteed, and I'm very cognizant of that. But we're not in the business to be in business. We're in this business to win." 

Kraft purchased the Patriots in 1994 for $172 million. In signing 19 free agents, some of whom played on the Patriots last year, he doled out about $162.5 million in guaranteed money (a number that will grow as details of a few more deals become known).