NFL Execs Fear ‘Bill Belichick Cloud’ Will Plague 2024 Season

Bill Belichick’s media career will keep him busy throughout the fall, but his desire to still coach could be a headache for teams in the 2024 NFL season.

The Athletic’s Jeff Howe highlighted a “ghost-like presence” that will permeate throughout NFL buildings, and a high-ranking executive admitted the “Bill Belichick Cloud” will be felt throughout the season.

Belichick’s most attractive hypothetical destination is the Dallas Cowboys. Mike McCarthy is in the final year of his contract, and Belichick is close friends with Jerry Jones. It might seem wild to throw everything aside for Belichick, but Jones always is one to chase stars.

“Nothing (the Cowboys) could do would surprise me,” an assistant coach from a team opined to Howe.

Belichick only received a serious offseason offer from the Atlanta Falcons, who signed Raheem Morris to be their next head coach. There still might be temptation from a team that starts slow even if Belichick’s primary motivation is to break Don Shula’s all-time wins record.

“(It’s) definitely a distraction,” another assistant coach told Howe, “especially if the coaching staff is on an expiring contract. (It’s) important to get off to a good start, I would think.”

Belichick turns 73 in April, and it seems like the former Patriots head coach wants the same kind of control of personnel decisions that he received in New England. That seemed to be a breaking point for Atlanta and likely why more teams weren’t keen on bringing in the future Hall of Famer.

“If the model is the New England model, you’re blowing up the operation as you know it,” a personnel executive told Howe. “If you’re doing that with a 73-year-old head coach, you’re blowing up your personnel operation and starting over with a head coach who may only be there for three years. There’d be a lot of questions.”

Those questions likely won’t be answered until December or January. But in the meantime, Belichick will spend the first half of the season rehabilitating his image through his multiple media projects.