Where did the patriots almost end up before bob kraft bought the team?

Answer 1

There was widespread speculation that then-owner James Busch Orthwein would move the team to St. Louis. Overlooked by analysts at the time was that Robert Kraft owned the stadium and the land around it and the team's lease with the stadium ran through 2001. Moreover, the NFL was not in support of moving the team, having fought such franchise relocations before (notably with the Oakland Raiders); even if the team had moved, the New England Patriots identity was to be left in Foxboro (the St. Louis team was to be named the Stallions) and with NFL expansion already in the pipeline (the Carolina Panthers and Jacksonville Jaguars were at that time in the process of building) Robert Kraft would likely have been awarded an expansion franchise just as the Cleveland Browns were reborn just three years after becoming the Baltimore Ravens.