FOXBORO, Mass. — New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick wouldn’t address the future Sunday morning during his season-ending news conference, and that included his own.
Belichick got out ahead of any questions pertaining to future decisions during his opening statement.
“We’re less than 12 hours from the end of the game,” Belichick said. “I’m sure there are a lot of questions about the future. Nobody’s thought about the future. Everybody’s been focused and working on Miami and then Tennessee. And that’s where all of the focus should have been and where it was. So, whatever’s in the future we’ll deal with at some later point in time. We’re certainly not going to deal with it now.”
The top question is whether quarterback Tom Brady, a free agent this offseason, will be back in 2020. Belichick directly addressed whether the team has a timeline for when they want to make a decision on their quarterback. The answer was short.
“No,” Belichick said.
When pressed further on Brady, Belichick reiterated his earlier statement.
“I honestly, look, I know it’s out there like there are a lot of other things out there,” Belichick said. “We could bring up 50 questions just like that one, and I told you what my state is on that. You can ask all 50 of them, and it’s going to be the same answer 50 times. We’ve been working on Tennessee. It’s 12 hours after the game. I’m not going to talk a lot of things about the future, because it’s not — I’m not prepared to talk about them.
“You could name 50 guys, 50 coaches, you could talk about anything you want in the future. They’re all questions that need to be answered at some point in time by the organization, by myself, by the coaching staff, by some of the players. But those are collective decisions that are not made by one person. They’re made collectively, and there’s a lot of time and thought and effort and communication that goes into that. Now is not the time.”
But Brady, who’s been with the team since Belichick became head coach in 2000 and shared in winning six Super Bowls, is different than those other 49 players and coaches. The Patriots do have other key free agents this offseason, however, like safety Devin McCourty, linebackers Kyle Van Noy and Jamie Collins, special teamer Matthew Slater and left guard Joe Thuney, among others.
“Everybody’s situation on the team is different,” Belichick said. “There are no two that are exactly the same, but the future’s the future for all of them just like it is for Tom and anybody else you want to bring up. Certainly, Tom is an iconic figure in this organization, and nobody respects Tom more than I do. I respect all of the other players and all of the other coaches in this organization too. I think that everybody that is part of it is an important part of it, and I want to give attention and communication and detail and thought into my input into those decisions. But any decision that’s made is — it’s not an individual decision.
“There are other people involved, so there has to be some type of communication and understanding, agreement, whatever you want to call it. That’s not a one-way street. I hope you can understand that. One person can’t decide what everybody else is going to do when players aren’t under contract, and we have a lot of players who aren’t under contract.”
The key agreement Brady and the Patriots need to reach is monetary. The Patriots clearly would want to bring Brady back on a lower cap hit, while the quarterback might decide he finally wants to be paid like one of the NFL’s top signal-callers. Statistically, Brady was not one of the league’s best quarterbacks this season.
Belichick was asked if he’ll be back with the team in 2020. Coaching contracts are not made public like player deals. So, it’s unknown if Belichick also is a free agent this offseason. Belichick wouldn’t definitively state he’ll be back in New England next season.
“I just answered all of these questions,” Belichick said. “All the future questions are the future. We’re less than 12 hours after the game. I don’t think anybody that’s competitive and been in this situation knows your focus is on the game. It’s not on something else. Hopefully, you can respect that, but if you can’t, then I’ve done the best I can to explain it. I’m sorry. It’s as simple as that.”
The Cleveland Browns, New York Giants and Carolina Panthers have head-coaching openings. The Dallas Cowboys’ job also is expected to open up soon. Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels is interviewing with the Browns, Giants and Panthers this week. Patriots special teams coordinator/wide receivers coach Joe Judge will interview with the Giants.
Those expecting definitive answers one day after the Patriots’ season ended were bound to be disappointed. The Patriots will wait and see on many key figures as the offseason progresses.
