New details from a court filing made Bret Bielema's $7 million litigation versus Arkansas' Razorback Foundation take an interesting turn. According to the new court filing, New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick believed the organization was overpaying their former defensive line coach, which impacts the case.

Via Michael McCann of Sportico:

A new court filing Monday in Bret Bielema’s $7 million litigation against the Razorback Foundation contains the potential bombshell that New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick thought he was overpaying, not underpaying, the former Razorbacks head coach when he worked for the Patriots in 2018-19.

The filing reveals that several successful coaches had joined Belichick’s staff for salaries as low as $15,000—far lower than Bielema’s six-figure annual wages.

For context, the Patriots are caught in the middle of this litigation battle regarding Bielema's buyout situation. The Razorback Foundation reportedly alleged that Bielema and his agent had worked on a scheme that landed Bielema a low-paying role, at least relative to his market, with the Patriots as the 51-year-old continued to receive money from the foundation.

Emails between Bill Belichick and Patriots owner Robert Kraft have not been made publicly available due to a protective order. However, the exchange reportedly suggests Belichick and Kraft were under the assumption that they were giving Bielema a higher-than-usual paycheck. Under usual circumstances, the Patriots pay coaches under Belichick's staff a sum of as low as $15,000.

After getting fired by Arkansas, Bielema was hired by the Patriots initially as a consultant, earning $25,000. Bielema then earned salaries of $100,000 and $250,000 upon transitioning to a full-time role with New England. The Patriots apparently believe they were overpaying Bielema and were possibly doing it to actually help their relationship with Arkansas, but the Razorback Foundation doesn't seem to be buying this and is sure to have a response soon.