Bill Belichick landing spots: Potential suitors for legendary Patriots head coach if New England era ends

Let’s just take a minute to realize how wild it is that it’s come to this. While every star does fade and Bill Belichick was never going to coach forever, it’s remarkable to see how quickly the bottom has fallen out on the New England Patriots and the head coach’s tenure with the franchise. Despite upsetting the Steelers in Week 14, the Patriots are 3-10, which is good for not only last place in the AFC East but last place in the entire conference. 

This record through the first 15 games of the season is the worst start of Belichick’s career. From 2001 to 2019 (better known as the Tom Brady era), the Patriots never once lost eight games in a season. 

And now comes the report this week, via Tom Curran of NBC Sports Boston, that Patriots owner Robert Kraft has already decided that he’s going to move on from Belichick and he apparently made that decision after watching his Patriots lose to the Colts 10-6 in a game that was played in Frankfurt, Germany, on Nov. 12. 

So that’s where we are, as the 10-loss Patriots prepare to face the Chiefs on Sunday. Worse than the record is the mere fact that what was once thought to be pillars of this rebuild have regressed, which includes quarterback Mac Jones, who has registered career lows across the board (Jones has been benched for Bailey Zappe). We’ve also noted in the past that Belichick’s roster decisions as the de facto GM have also hindered his on-field success. From a big-picture view, his message doesn’t seem to be hitting home anywhere across the roster either.

If Kraft indeed has decided to cut ties with Belichick at the end of the season — it seems almost certain they would wait until then; after all, this is the man who was the architect of the most dominant run in NFL history and brought all six of the franchise’s Super Bowl titles — what would happen next?

We’ve already talked about what the Patriots could do in a post-Belichick world, but what about the head coach himself? If these sides do part ways, does Belichick simply go off into retirement — he’s 71 — or does he look for a new situation in the NFL? Given that he is just 16 wins behind Don Shula for the all-time record for a head coach, he may stick around to finish his career atop the record book. With that in mind, let’s take a look at some possible landing spots for arguably the greatest head coach of all time. 

Washington Commanders

This has been the sexy landing spot whenever the conversation turns to where Belichick could end up if his time in New England ran out. Washington is an organization in transition with new ownership entering its first offseason after purchasing the franchise. Ron Rivera’s team is currently far under .500 (4-9 entering Week 15) and it does seem like Josh Harris‘ group will look for their own guy to rebuild with, setting up the possibility of the team cleaning house at the end of the year. 

As is the case whenever a new owner comes into the picture, they typically like to make a big splash out of the gate. Well, what bigger splash would there be than to bring Belichick aboard to reset the franchise going forward? For Belichick, the Commanders present a situation where he could have total control of the team in a similar fashion that he does with the Patriots now. The club also has some solid pieces in-house, Sam Howell has shown promise in his first full season as the starter, and the team does possess the third-most amount of cap space this offseason along with a potential top-10 pick at the 2024 NFL Draft.  

A final stint with the Commanders could also be looked at as a homecoming for Belichick, who grew up in Annapolis, Maryland, which is about 30 minutes away from FedEx Field. 

Dallas Cowboys

The big question here would be roster control. Would Jerry Jones — the owner and GM of the Cowboys — allow Belichick to have the final say over roster decisions if he were to bring the future Hall of Fame coach to Dallas? Because if he doesn’t, that probably ends the conversation as it’s hard to imagine Belichick being told who is and is not on his roster at this stage of his career. But let’s work under the assumption that Jones would give way and at least be fully collaborative with Belichick in this endeavor. Boy, would this be something: The greatest head coach of all time joining forces with America’s team. 

The Cowboys already have a roster ready-made for a Super Bowl run — in fact, they’re 10-3 entering Week 15 and one of the Super Bowl favorites. Still, one of the big concerns about this current team making a title run has been the coaching under Mike McCarthy. If he falls short of a deep playoff run once again, that could open the door for Jones to make the change. Belichick would come in, have instant credibility amongst the roster, and could very well solve the execution and mental mistakes this Cowboys team has been plagued with for recent seasons. If Belichick not only wants to catch Shula, but possibly stack another Super Bowl onto his résumé, there aren’t many better options in the league. 

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Yes, there would be something ironic about the Buccaneers again being the landing spot for a Patriots icon, but don’t sleep on this scenario. Historically, the Glazer family has never shied away from going after big-time talent and that includes the head coaching spot. Back in 2002, this ownership group swung a trade with the Raiders to bring in Jon Gruden as head coach. 

Currently, the Bucs are 6-7 on the season — good enough for first place in the lowly NFC South — and Todd Bowles is 14-16 as the head coach since taking over for Bruce Arians last season. If Tampa Bay misses out on the playoffs this year and limps down the stretch in the final four games, that could lead to the ousting of Bowles and create an avenue for Belichick. There is familiarity with the Buccaneers front office as GM Jason Licht had two different tenures under Belichick with the Patriots, including a period from 2009 to 2011 when he was the director of player personnel. With that prior working relationship in mind, there could be a collaborative approach to roster building with Belichick and Licht in his hypothetical partnership.  

Tampa Bay still has some pieces from its Super Bowl-winning squad of a few years ago and will have over $60 million in cap space to make improvements this offseason. Baker Mayfield is a quarterback the Patriots reportedly liked coming out of the 2018 NFL Draft, so even the situation under center could be appealing to Belichick. And if you’re talking about stacking up wins, the NFC South is one of the least competitive divisions in the NFL. If Belichick can turn the Bucs into the class of that division, he’s arguably looking at six wins out of the gate, which helps in his chase of Shula.  

Los Angeles Chargers

Brandon Staley has one of the hottest seats in the NFL as the Chargers have routinely been a team that oozes talent on both sides of the ball, but questionable coaching moments haven’t allowed them to reach their full potential. The team is 5-8 entering Week 15 and to make matters worse, Justin Herbert won’t play again this season after breaking his finger. If they miss the playoffs, which seems very likely, that could spell the end to not only Staley’s tenure but possibly even GM Tom Telesco’s as well if the Spanos family decides to clean house. For Belichick, this landing spot is similar to what we described with Dallas, but has one key difference: Justin Herbert. Herbert is one of the most talented quarterbacks in the NFL when healthy, and if Belichick aligns himself with the former first-round pick and builds a winning culture around him, the sky is the limit for Los Angeles.