Bills Coach Bill Belichick? Why It Could Make Sense For Buffalo

The rest of this Patriots season will be dominated by discussions about the future, especially that of head coach Bill Belichick, a fact that surely is foreign to what has been expected in New England.

Belichick has long preached that the season begins on or after Thanksgiving, yet his team’s season for all intents and purposes is already over, a week before Turkey Day. The 2-8 Patriots are one of the worst teams in the NFL and will spend its bye week searching for answers, most notably mulling a quarterback change with the struggling Mac Jones.

It seems like a new report about Belichick’s future with the Patriots — or another team perhaps — pops up daily. The conversation about his potential successor looms, and the future is unclear.

In that regard, though, the Patriots aren’t alone in the AFC East. The Buffalo Bills came into this season with Super Bowl aspirations. Now, however, the numbers say it’s more likely they miss the playoffs than return to the postseason for a fifth straight season. That’s despite one of the NFL’s more talented rosters, a group headlined by Josh Allen, who is on the short list of the league’s elite quarterbacks.

If Buffalo can’t right the ship and go on a deep playoff run, it might mark the end of Sean McDermott’s seven-year run. The Bills played one of their final cards this week when they fired offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey. If that doesn’t work, McDermott could find himself on the chopping block at season’s end, especially considering the Bills have advanced beyond the divisional round just once under his watch.

On the heels of Monday night’s devastating last-second home loss to Buffalo, NESN.com’s Mike Cole and Ricky Doyle kicked around a seemingly unfathomable idea: Could Belichick be the next head coach of the Bills?

It’s probably a long shot, but as Mike and Ricky discussed this week on “The Spread,’ NESN’s football picks podcast, it’s not the craziest idea. In fact, a coach like the buttoned-up, respected Belichick might be just what Buffalo needs to finally break through.

Ultimately, Patriots owner Robert Kraft might have the biggest say in all of this. Belichick is reportedly under contract beyond the 2023 season, so there will be moving parts if and when the two sides part ways. Kraft might try to get compensation for a team wanting to hire Belichick, and if that’s going to be the case, then it might be hard to see the Patriots head coach in the division.

Then again, given how Belichick initially landed in New England, all bets are off when it comes to his future.