How Ex-NFL GM Believes Bill Belichick’s Patriots Future Resolves

Multiple reports indicated Bill Belichick's Patriots tenure will end after this season, but there still are plenty of skeptics from those who were close to the future Hall of Fame head coach.

Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman aren't so sure Robert Kraft would be so quick to replace Belichick, and the New England owner reportedly isn't sold on Jerod Mayo as a potential successor. Mike Vrabel reportedly is viewed highly as Belichick's replacement, though the Tennessee Titans are happy to have the former Patriot heading their rebuild.

NBC Sports Boston's Tom Curran reported this week a decision already was reached on Belichick's future following the Patriots' loss to the Indianapolis Colts in Germany in Week 10. Multiple reports believe a mutual agreement will be reached between Kraft and Belichick, which is why the head coach wasn't fired midseason.

Former Patriots assistant and NFL general manager Michael Lombardi also threw cold water on the idea of an in-season firing.

"... I think the timing tells me that what the message really is we are not going to fire Bill Belichick in-season," Lombardi said on the "Pat McAfee Show" on Thursday. "So if we lose by 21 points on Sunday to the (Kansas City) Chiefs, don't come ask us if we're going to fire him."

Lombardi believed Curran would not have released his report if he wasn't confident in it, but the former executive believed a big-picture focus likely will be on Kraft's mind when the time comes to decide on Belichick.

"I think this is a question that is going to get addressed not for today but how does this look five years from?" Lombardi said. "When you win six Super Bowls and you have as much success as the Kraft family has had with Bill Belichick, I think you have to think about this next move you want to make in terms of where does this put us five years from now. You can't take the Super Bowls away, you can't take the prestige, you can't take the honors away. So the relationship has to maintain itself. ..."

It's unknown if Belichick would be willing to give up his control over the team to allow an executive to collaborate with him, which is a conversation Lombardi believed Kraft would need to have.

Kraft likely wants to avoid a Dallas Cowboys situation where the rift between Jerry Jones and Jimmy Johnson led to the latter's lack of celebration from the franchise for over a decade.

Belichick has been mum on his future in his news conferences, and it's likely fans will have to wait until the end of the 2023 season to see if New England does move on from the six-time Super Bowl champion.