After Tom Brady departed for Tampa Bay, we wondered if he or Bill Belichick was responsible for New England’s success. Then, Brady won a Super Bowl with the Buccaneers, making a strong argument in his favor, while the Patriots have gone 25-26 in the post-Brady era. Now that the Patriots are in dire straits and the organization has faced adversity it hasn’t faced since before Belichick’s tenure, it stands to reason that Robert Kraft will eventually intervene. And if that’s the case, Peter King of NBC Sports can see Belichick coaching elsewhere before the 70-year-old coach calls it a career.
After listening to Kraft at the Owners’ Meetings talking about performance rather than individual records, King writes in his “Football Morning in America” Column that he wonders what happens to Belichick if the Patriots become the basement dwellers of the AFC East. Of course, that’s entirely possible with Aaron Rodgers likely to join the Jets and each of the Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins looking like legitimate playoff contenders.
King floated a scenario in which the Patriots went 7-10 each of the next two seasons or 14-20, for that matter. And Belichick is five wins from passing Don Shula as the winningest head coach in NFL history.
“WWKD? What will Kraft do? He may move on. If so, it would not surprise me to see Belichick coach another team for a couple of years.”
Given how connected King is to the NFL, it’s interesting to see him float this possibility. For now, we’ll have to see if Belichick can get the Patriots back to their winning ways before it’s ultimately too late.
