How Hot Is Bill Belichick’s Seat Entering 2023 Patriots Season?

Robert Kraft surely does not want to ever fire Bill Belichick. He wants the legendary head coach to be wearing a Patriots hoodie while he notches the 19 remaining wins he needs to pass Don Shula.

But Kraft also wants New England’s run of mediocrity to end, and soon. He said that publicly in each of the last two offseasons.

The longtime Patriots owner expects his team to be, if not annually competing for championships like they were for most of the Tom Brady era, at the very least earning playoff spots and winning postseason games.

They failed to do the former in two of the last three seasons, finishing below .500 for the first and second time since 2000. They haven’t done the latter since February 2019, when Belichick and Brady won their sixth and final Super Bowl together.

The Patriots have gone four consecutive seasons without a playoff victory — something that seemed inconceivable just a few years ago. If that drought extends to a full half-decade, what would Kraft do?

Or, more specifically, what would it take for Kraft to decide he’d rather have Jerod Mayo coaching his team in 2024? Missed playoffs? Another sub-.500 season? Six wins? Five? Would some semblance of positive progress suffice, even if it doesn’t show in the standings in a loaded AFC?

Belichick’s seat undoubtedly is hotter entering Sunday’s season opener against the Philadephia Eagles than it has been in 20-plus years. But just how hot is it?

NESN.com Patriots beat writers Zack Cox and Dakota Randall debated this seismic question in the latest episode of the NESN Patriots Podcast.