Item No. 1: New Denver coach Josh McDaniels allegedly seeks out a trade for Matt Cassel before speaking with incumbent Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler. Cutler feels alienated, lashes out at organization and demands a trade. Angry Denver fans launch www.savejaycutler.com and www.keepjayfiremcdaniels.com.

Item No. 2: New Chiefs’ GM Scott Pioli tells Kansas City’s Pro Bowl offensive lineman Brian Waters, who’s made an offseason visit to Arrowhead Stadium to speak with Pioli, that he doesn’t have time to talk. The popular Pro Bowl lineman feels alienated, lashes out at organization and demands a trade. Fans call Pioli arrogant, and he is eviscerated in the local press.

The Patriots’ brand is one of the most sought-after in the National Football League. Other teams see the success of the New England franchise, and want a little bit of that magic to rub off on them. Year after year, a steady stream of assistants and front office personnel are lured elsewhere. Even after missing the playoffs this past year — and even with the very public failures of ex-assistants like Romeo Crennel and Eric Mangini — the New England team-building template is still the one everyone else wants to duplicate.

To that end, this past offseason, several members of the New England coaching staff and front office were hired by other franchises. The Broncos courted McDaniels, the Patriots former offensive coordinator. Chiefs’ fans were so in love with the idea of hiring Pioli they chanted his name over and over again during their regular-season finale. In addition, assistants like Brad Seely and Pete Mangurian left for opportunities with other teams. New England’s greatest export isn’t cranberries: It’s football smarts.

But fans in Denver and Kansas City are learning that remaking your franchise in New England’s image is not an easy or painless process. Tom Brady doesn’t show up, start flinging touchdown passes all over the lot and make everything better. Quite often, it’s a long and difficult course of action, one that includes undoing years of dysfunction and mismanagement. (I like to think Pioli’s first address to the Chiefs sounded like Alec Baldwin in “Glengarry Glen Ross.”) You have to eliminate the firmly entrenched ideas that have dominated those franchises, a job that isn’t always easy. For someone who has been around the franchise for many years, loyalty can cloud good judgment. Sentimentality can make it easy to dole out a bad contract. And personal history with a player or coach can make it hard to spot flaws in what they can bring to the table. With a new talent evaluator — especially one who is part of the Bill Belichick coaching tree — none of that is a problem.

That doesn’t mean the established fans and players can adapt to change so easily. In the case of McDaniels, there’s no magic wand that can wipe away Cutler’s ridiculous sense of entitlement. (Look, son: If Joe Montana can be traded, then so are you.) When it comes to the Chiefs, you can’t make away a generation of shoddy personnel moves and bad contracts simply disappear. (Two words: Herm Edwards.)

The bottom line remains that if you want to bring the Patriots’ blueprint to your hometown, chances are feelings will get hurt. By nature, the overhaul is not a warm and fuzzy process. Hard, unpopular decisions have to be made. If that means there needs to be a change in personnel, everyone will grieve for a few days, but you move on. Once great franchises, Denver and Kansas City must realize that when it comes to life in the new NFL, that’s how the other half — the successful half — lives.

Christopher Price covers the Patriots for WEEI.com.