Earlier this month, a report surfaced indicating that New England Patriots Bill Belichick was “shopping” starting quarterback Mac Jones, attempting to trade him to another team. But one former Patriots staffer does not believe that report.
This week, former Patriots staffer Michael Lombardi, who served as an assistant to the head coach in New England from 2014 to 2015, appeared on the GM Shuffle podcast and claimed that shopping Mac Jones is “against everything” Bill Belichick would do.
“The idea he is shopping Mac is against everything he would do,” Lombardi said on the podcast according to ESPN. “First of all, he’s the most secretive person in the league. He’s not going to tell you anything he’s doing; even some people in the organization don’t know. But if somebody comes to him and tells him, ‘I’ll give you a [first-round pick] for Mac,’ does that mean he’s shopping him? No. That just means somebody asked the question. I think we’re at a semantical issue here. … Did the Patriots mess up with their decision with the staffing [last season]? That’s fairly obvious, and I think [Belichick’s] admitted that. Was Mac Jones’ behavior conducive to that of an ultimate leader? No. He’s got to admit that too. So there’s culpability on both sides. The only way they’re going to improve is [acknowledging that] together.”
We’ll certainly have to see if Bill Belichick ever addresses this situation himself.
[ESPN, GM Shuffle]
