ESPN reported Wednesday morning that Patriots owner Robert Kraft played a role in the Falcons’ coaching search and ultimate decision not to hire Bill Belichick last January.

Falcons owner Arthur Blank spoke to Kraft at least twice over the phone after interviewing Belichick on Jan. 15, ESPN reported. Kraft allegedly called Blank to “warn him not to trust Bill,” according to a source who spoke separately to a close Kraft friend and longtime Belichick confidant, per ESPN’s Don Van Natta Jr., Seth Wickersham and Jeremy Fowler. Blank considers Kraft his closest friend in ownership circles, according to the report.

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Belichick and the Patriots parted ways in January after a 24-year partnership. Belichick was left without a job during the 2024 head-coaching hiring cycle, when he only interviewed with Atlanta.

Patriots vice president of communications Stacey James provided a statement denying ESPN’s report.

“Robert steadfastly denies saying anything negative to Arthur Blank about Bill Belichick after Robert and Bill mutually agreed to part ways,” James told ESPN. “In fact, Robert advocated for Bill to get the job.”

James was asked if Kraft had ever criticized Belichick to Blank. James said Kraft had no recollection of doing so, but acknowledged he might have done so prior to January.

“It would not surprise me to learn that owners sometimes lament to those close to them when their teams are struggling,” James told ESPN, “but Robert Kraft never questioned Bill’s character or trust when talking with Arthur Blank. Trust is important to Robert. He wouldn’t have employed Coach Belichick for the past 24 years if he ever questioned his trust.”

Multiple sources told ESPN that Kraft “spoke with “some candor” about Belichick to Blank, but those sources declined to elaborate. Those sources told ESPN that Kraft relayed to Blank that “you’ll never have a warm conversation with” Belichick, something former Patriots head coach Bill Parcells told his former boss in 1996 when Kraft wanted to hire Belichick.

Another source close to Kraft told ESPN that the Patriots owner “found Bill to be extremely difficult and obstinate and kind of stubborn and, in the end, not worthy of his trust. And also very, very, very arrogant.” The same source said that he didn’t know if Kraft warned Blank about Belichick, but that Robert and Jonathan Kraft felt “betrayed” by their former head coach.

“I don’t think they’d try to hurt Belichick,” the source said, per ESPN. “But I don’t think they’d try to help him either. They weren’t going to try to sink him. He was finished as an effective head coach. Just look at his last four years in New England. A disaster … If you’re Arthur Blank, why do you want the headaches?”

According to the report, had Blank hired Belichick, he would have offset the reported $25 million annual salary owed to Belichick by the Krafts this year. Belichick’s contract with the Patriots reportedly ran through 2024.