0 of 9

Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

Much will be made about Bill Belichick's place in history now that the coach has secured his fifth Super Bowl with the Patriots.

I'm here to tell you coaching is the second-best job he does. Because as amazing and meticulously prepared as he looks on the sidelines, he’s even better as the Patriots' de facto general manager. Trust me—I worked in his front office.

A Belichick team is built ruthlessly. He watches more college tape than any coach I've known, all in the name of unearthing the next Julian Edelman or Tom Brady. And when those no-names blossom into bona fide stars, he erases their names from his vocabulary. Why? It only enhances their on-market value if he praises them publicly.

Imagine that kind of antagonist sitting across from you at a negotiation table. Wes Welker had no chance when he asked for a new deal when I was there; Belichick had a price in his mind, and he wasn't going to overspend. That same strategy has sent countless other stars—the Randy Mosses and Richard Seymours and Asante Samuels of his dynasty—out the door.

Belichick has no problem walking away from a fan favorite.

He also has no problem walking away from freak athletes. Take Jamie Collins or Chandler Jones, two freak athletes the Patriots shipped off to other teams in 2016. Belichick made both calls; he can only tolerate so much freelancing away from his scheme before he breaks ties. In came cheaper bodies, like Kyle Van Noy and Chris Long. And in came another Lombardi Trophy.

Like Belichick, I'll try to project honest-to-goodness valuations on some prized free-agent names. I guarantee you the football czar up in New England already has a salary in mind for all of them. The 31 other clubs can exceed that tag.