There are whispers going around about the New England Patriots potentially trading legendary head coach to an NFC team, according to a prominent NFL insider.
Amid a frustrating year for the 2-6 Patriots, there have been calls for the team to fire Belichick. Last week, however, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that Belichick actually signed a “lucrative” extension with the organization.
Citing a source, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio mentioned a theory “that the end result” for Belichick is to get traded to the Commanders in the offseason.
Florio stated that the news of Belichick’s extension could have merely been a tactic by Belichick’s camp to shut down speculation that owner Robert Kraft would fire him during the season (h/t Chris Rosvoglou of TheSpun):
“What I heard over the weekend from someone I know and someone I trust that made me say, ‘Whoa, that’s interesting’ is the possibility that the end result for the Commanders is a trade with the Patriots for Bill Belichick.
And it makes sense when you think about it. And it puts in a new context that leak. That strange Sunday morning splash report about ‘Bill Belichick in the off-season signed a lucrative multiyear contract with the Patriots. My first thought was that’s Belichick’s camp getting out the idea that this guy ain’t gonna be fired during the season. The other explanation for it is, it’s the Patriots getting out the idea as owners throughout the league begin the process of figuring out who they want to hire next year.”
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With the Commanders headed for a third straight non-playoff season under Ron Rivera, many expect the club to make a coaching change during or after the season. The Commanders’ Week 8 home loss to the Philadelphia Eagles dropped them to 3-5 on the year.
Belichick has been the head coach of the Patriots since 2000, leading them to six Super Bowl championships and nine AFC title banners. But as everyone knows, the Pats haven’t been the same since Tom Brady left in 2020.
New England went 7-9 in 2020, 10-7 in 2021 and 8-9 last year. Now it looks like they’ll suffer their worst season since 2000, when the team went 5-11 under Belichick in his first year as head coach.
