Bill Belichick On Hot Seat As Patriots Spiral? Mike Florio Explains

The Patriots have had more lows than highs since Tom Brady left New England before the 2020 NFL season.

But they reached new depths Sunday in a 38-3 loss to the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium, to the point where it’s fair to start questioning whether Bill Belichick’s job could be in jeopardy without a dramatic turnaround.

Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio on Monday raised the possibility of Patriots owner Robert Kraft moving on from Belichick this offseason, with New England’s Week 4 defeat serving as an embarrassing moment.

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“I said it before the season. I noticed it when Bob Kraft, owner of the team, talked about it in Arizona, when he was asked — and I need to dust these quotes off so people will maybe pay attention to it now: ‘Will Bill Belichick essentially be allowed to stay until he beats Don Shula’s all-time wins record?’ And it was not a ‘yes’ that was given by the owner of the team,” Florio said on “Pro Football Talk.” “The answer, to me, made it clear: If things don’t improve, there’s going to be a change.”

Belichick’s track record is undeniable. He’s won six Super Bowl titles in New England and is one of the greatest coaches in NFL history. A rough four-year stretch doesn’t change that.

But sometimes, environments grow stale. And with the Patriots sitting at 1-3, one year after going 8-9, there’s seemingly a developing sentiment among the fan base that New England might benefit from a new voice and a hard reset.

There’s simply not much to like about this year’s Patriots.

“This, to me, is very troubling. It’s a warning sign,” Florio said Monday. “There’s still a long way to go. But if they finish last in that division, they don’t turn this thing around, they don’t make it to the playoffs, there’s going to be a mutual parting, I believe, between the Patriots and Bill Belichick when this season’s over.”

Maybe the Pats go on a run. It hasn’t been all bad in New England. And the schedule softens a bit, albeit with a couple of pivotal AFC East showdowns looming in Weeks 7 and 8.

If not, well, it’ll be time to have a difficult conversation. The Patriots can’t keep living in the past, no matter how successful Belichick has been for most of his New England tenure.

“(Belichick) has been very standoffish, dismissive, insulting, short with the media, and I know he does it for some sort of strange, militaristic, strategic reason. He doesn’t want to give anything away. He’s always got a reason for it,” Florio said. “But when you are that way, when you win, no big deal. When you don’t win, that’s when they all come back at you. And that’s part of what’s going to happen. They better turn it around quickly, or I think it’s going to be the last year for Bill Belichick in New England, barring something really surprising after the season.”

The clock is ticking.