In the words of Robert Kraft, the Patriots 2023 season has been "disappointing" as his club stumbles to 2-8 after losing in Week 10 to the Colts in Germany. That's the worst mark for the franchise through the first 10 games since 2000, which happens to be the first year with Bill Belichick as head coach. And with the team's recent struggles, there has been plenty of pontification about this possibly being the final year for Belichick in Foxborough with Kraft electing to part ways with the legendary coach and send his franchise on a new trajectory.
The team's struggles have been so severe and foreign under Kraft's ownership that there has even been fodder amongst talking heads about the team pulling the plug on Belichick in-season. However, Kraft isn't inclined to make such a drastic move during the season, according to NFL Media.
A few weeks ago, it was revealed that Belichick agreed to a new and "lucrative" contract with the Patriots over the offseason. This latest report from NFL Media illuminates that deal a little more, revealing that Belichick is under contract "at least" this year and the 2024 season. And if the two sides did elect to part ways this coming offseason and Belichick still wanted to coach somewhere in the league, Kraft would want some sort of compensation from whatever team that is trying to install the future Hall of Famer as their newest coach.
Head coaching trades -- which is essentially what this would be -- are rare but not totally foreign in the NFL. In fact, the Patriots traded for Belichick back in 2000, trading a first-round pick to the Jets in exchange for the rights to the coach. Last offseason, the Denver Broncos also traded for a head coach, acquiring Sean Payton from the Saints for a 2023 first-round pick and a 2024 second-rounder.
The Patriots losing to Indianapolis in Week 10 gives them their eighth loss of the year. From 2001 to 2019 (better known as the Tom Brady era), Kraft's team never once endured eight losses in a single season.
"This isn't what we were expecting to happen this year," Kraft said Sunday morning when asked about the team's 2-7 record in an interview with Rich Eisen on NFL Network leading up to the Patriots matchup with the Colts in Germany.
As for where Belichick could go if his tenure with New England does come to an end in the next few months, here's a look at some landing spots for arguably the greatest head coach of all time.
