There have been rumblings in recent weeks that there is tension in the relationship between Patriots owner Robert Kraft and coach Bill Belichick.
Could that tension actually lead to the departure of the six-time Super Bowl–winning coach?
Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio, appearing on this week's SI Media With Jimmy Traina, says that’s a very real possibility if Belichick doesn’t make the playoffs.
“I think there’s pressure on Belichick, who has missed the playoffs two of the last three years and the one time he made it, he got blown out by the Bills, 47–17,” says Florio.
“I think if he doesn’t make the playoffs this year, I think it’s one of those situations where you sit back and wait and see what happens. And this is all new territory for all of us. A guy who has been so great for so long, all of a sudden, his fastball is gone. Well, his fastball went to Tampa Bay and now his fastball is retired. Without Tom Brady, he hasn’t been the same coach. And that thing from last year, that Frankenstein monster on offense, with Matt Patricia as the de facto coordinator and Joe Judge as the quarterbacks coach, that was a mess. That created dysfunction between Belichick and Mac Jones and Kraft has basically said it was a mess.
“I said it last year as it was happening. If any other coach was doing this, we would be saying, ‘Has this man lost his damn mind?’ And so that’s his latest installment for his résumé.
"So I think he is under pressure and I think there is a way the dominos fall this year where Robert Kraft decides it’s time to move on. And I think it would be sold in a very PR, sanitized way as the two sides have decided it’s time for a mutual parting. You know they use that term mutual parting all the time to cover up a firing. Robert Kraft wouldn’t fire Bill Belichick.”
Listen to the full podcast to hear Florio expound even further on Belichick’s status, the Jets’ reluctance to appear on Hard Knocks, the recent controversy with running backs no longer getting big contracts and much more.
