One of the biggest storylines in the NFL heading into the final week of the 2023 regular season centers around the New England Patriots. For weeks, it has been reported that owner Robert Kraft is going to move on from head coach Bill Belichick after the season. Alas, that does not seem like a set in stone plan.
According to Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, no decision has been made on what will happen between the Patriots and Belichick. Eventually, a meeting will be had between the two parties to figure everything out.
“Owner Robert Kraft and head coach Bill Belichick still haven’t met to discuss the future. Until they do, there will be more questions than answers about how this plays out, and there remains a scenario where Belichick returns to New England for a 25th season,” wrote Rapoport and Pelissero.
NFL News & Rumors: Bill Belichick, Robert Kraft, New England Patriots Updates
Coming into the season, Kraft made his goals clear. He wanted to see the team back in the postseason. They didn’t come close to accomplishing that, as the Patriots sit at 4-12 heading into the season finale against the New York Jets.
It is the third time in four seasons the Patriots will be missing the postseason since Tom Brady left the team. Under normal circumstances, that would be more than enough for a head coach to get fired. Alas, this is far from normal in New England.
Belichick is arguably the best head coach the NFL has ever seen. Parting ways with him will be no easy task, and according to Rapoport and Pelissero, after how ugly things got with Brady, Kraft is looking to avoid such a situation repeating itself.
NFL News & Rumors: Bill Belichick, Robert Kraft, New England Patriots Updates
“…Kraft is also conscientious of how the Tom Brady situation played out and wants to make sure Belichick’s exit, whenever it comes, is handled the right way, making a firing (as opposed to a “mutual parting”) highly unlikely,” written over at NFL.com.
There is a lot to sift through when it comes to Belichick’s tenure in New England. Not only is he the head coach, but he is essentially the general manager as well. Would bringing in someone to help make roster decisions be something Belichick is open to so that he can focus on the coaching aspect of his job?
It will be interesting to see how things unfold in New England in the coming weeks. Belichick is aiming to break Don Shula’s record of 347 career wins and 328 in the regular season. Will that happen with the Patriots or elsewhere as the 71-year-old has no intentions to stop coaching in 2024.
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