At a time when the calls are increasing for the Patriots to drop the curtain on the Bill Belichick era — and when ownership has remained conspicuously quiet about the situation — someone has leaked an intriguing nugget to the NFL’s in-house media conglomerate.
“Sources say Bill Belichick during the offseason quietly agreed to terms on a lucrative, multi-year, new contract,” Ian Rapoport said at the top of the hour on NFL Network’s pregame show. “Now, contractually, he is locked up long term.”
So when was the contract agreed to? Specifically, did it happen before or after owner Robert Kraft was asked whether Belichick would remain with the team long enough to break Don Shula’s all-time record for wins? If so, Kraft could have said, “Bill has a lucrative, multi-year, new contract.” Instead, Kraft made it clear that there’s a mandate to win now.
Even with this news, there are many questions. How much of the contract is guaranteed? What would the buyout be if the Patriots decide to move on after this season?
Also, there’s this simple reality. If the Patriots would make a change and Belichick would take another job, the Patriots would get dollar-for-dollar credit for whatever Belichick would earn with a new team.
Finally, if Belichick simply decides he has had enough and resigns/retires, there’s no buyout.
Regardless of where it goes from here, the timing of the leak is intriguing. Is this simply an effort to extinguish the brushfire of scuttlebutt about an in-season coaching change?
Frankly, if there was no way Belichick would be gone after this season, Kraft would have said so by now. The new contract guarantees nothing. And Kraft’s most recent comments of any substance on the issue came in March, when he subtly but clearly hinged Belichick’s pursuit of the all-time record for wins on winning enough games to get to the playoffs this year.
Bottom line? It’s way too easy to look to the news of a new contract to guarantee that Belichick will be with the Patriots beyond 2023. And, if that was the case, we likely would have heard about it before today.