Regardless of what happens in Sunday’s game between the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts, Bill Belichick’s job is reportedly safe, for now.
Per the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Patriots owner Robert Kraft is “not inclined to fire Belichick midseason,” despite a recent report suggesting a loss in Germany could be the end of the legendary coach’s tenure in New England.
“My understanding is Robert Kraft is not inclined to fire Bill Belichick midseason, which is unbelievable and amazing that we are even discussing this,” said Rapoport. “But given the record the last couple of years, at least it is a topic in New England on the airwaves and elsewhere. And there’s a lot of reasons to see why it makes no sense to fire Bill Belichick midseason.
“First of all, it’s the greatest coach of all time. Sometimes, these guys are treated differently. The other part of this is just functionally, if Belichick is going to somehow, someway coach elsewhere next year, the Patriots have him under contract. They would at least want some sort of compensation to make this happen.”
From @NFLGameDay Kickoff: On #Patriots coach Bill Belichick, his future, and what may come next… pic.twitter.com/436bjgo1zw
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 12, 2023
Another angle to this could be the respect factor for Belichick.
Firing the six-time Super Bowl-winning coach midseason could be viewed as a disrespectful move by the Patriots organization. It isn’t like the team is knocking on the door for playoff contention.
Allow Belichick to go down with the sinking ship and approach the situation with a cooler head in the offseason. There’s no need for the Patriots to rush this decision.
