Mike Florio Floats Theory About Bill Belichick Contract Report

Amid an abundance of chatter about Bill Belichick's future in New England, intriguing news about the longtime Patriots coach surfaced Sunday morning.

Roughly three hours before New England's Week 7 game against the Buffalo Bills at Gillette Stadium, NFL Media's Ian Rapoport reported Belichick "quietly" agreed to a new multi-year contract with the Patriots over the offseason. According to the trusted league insider, the future Pro Football Hall of Famer now is contractually "locked up long-term" in Foxboro, Mass.

Mike Florio thought the contract report prompted more questions than answers, including the guaranteed value of the reported deal and the logistics of a potential buyout after the season. The Pro Football Talk founder also can't help but wonder if the news drop was a calculated move by the powers that be at One Patriot Place.

"Regardless of where it goes from here, the timing of the leak is intriguing," Florio wrote in a column published Sunday. "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, (Robert) 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."

As Rapoport and Florio noted, Belichick's reported new contract doesn't guarantee he will be back on the sideline for the Patriots next season. Kraft reportedly has discussed the idea of moving on from his longtime colleague and there seemingly is a non-zero chance the 71-year-old retires after a trying season.

All told, Sunday's news doesn't do much to clear up any cloudiness surrounding what's next for Belichick.