Bill Belichick has ‘expressed doubt’ about Patriots future

Patriots Bill Belichick has reportedly ‘expressed doubt’ about future with Patriots to staff “By dragging it out, they risk turning and burning Belichick on Black Monday. That doesn’t feel right to me.” Bill Belichick is currently in his 24th season coaching the Patriots. Danielle Parhizkaran / The Boston Globe
Bill Belichick’s job security in New England stands as the most compelling storyline left hovering over a 4-11 Patriots roster.
And even though the legendary head coach has not offered many tangible sound bites regarding his murky future in Foxborough over the last few months, he’s reportedly been candid behind the scenes about whether this might be his last season coaching in New England.
According to a report from Boston Sports Journal’s Mike Giardi on Tuesday, Belichick “has expressed doubt about his future in New England to the staff at various points over the last few weeks.” Giardi added that Belichick has yet to sit down with Robert Kraft and Patriots ownership to discuss future plans.
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“If he won’t survive, I think this is a massive misstep by (Robert and Jonathan Kraft),” Giardi wrote. “They could turn the final week against the Jets into a celebration of all Bill’s accomplishments here and guarantee a full house for a meaningless game. Instead, by dragging it out, they risk turning and burning Belichick on Black Monday. That doesn’t feel right to me.”
While Kraft has not addressed the media regarding Belichick’s future in New England, the writing does seem to be on the wall that Belichick’s 24th season with the Patriots is shaping up to be his last.
Beyond New England’s current 4-11 record and the lackluster returns put forth by the franchise since Tom Brady left the organization in March 2020, Belichick’s poor drafting and personnel moves over the years have hampered the team’s ability to properly retool on the fly.
Even though New England still has two games left on its 2023 schedule, ESPN NFL insider Dan Graziano added on Wednesday that Belichick’s time with the Patriots might have run its course.
As part of a column published on Wednesday where Graziano and fellow ESPN NFL Jeremy Fowler discussed the upcoming offseason, Graziano speculated on just how many coaching vacancies would be available across the league this winter.
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Graziano settled on seven available head-coaching jobs, including one in New England.
“I put it at seven. Three are already open — the Raiders, Panthers and Chargers — and we expect an opening in Washington,” Graziano wrote. I also think the Patriots are likely to move on from Bill Belichick, and people have had their eye on Chicago for a while, though the Bears are playing like a team that’s trying to save its coach’s job, so Matt Eberflus could potentially survive this.”