The Bill Belichick-Eagles rumors are not going away quietly.
With Philadelphia moving forward with head coach Nick Sirianni following an embarrassing first-round exit and a slew of coordinator changes, the buzz linking the Eagles to the legendary Patriots coach has yet to die down even as Saturday’s Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., nears.
During an appearance Tuesday on “Felger & Mazz” on 98.5 The Sports Hub, Greg Bedard of the Boston Sports Journal said the Eagles “were very interested in Belichick if things didn’t work out” with Sirianni, whose team endured a second-half collapse — losing five of their six final games —just one season removed from a Super Bowl berth.
“Probably the most interesting thing that I’ve heard, and again, this is just Senior Bowl rumor mill, is that the Eagles were very interested in Belichick if things didn’t work out with Nick Sirianni, and they could be at the front of the line if things again go poorly for him next year,” Bedard said.
When Michael Felger replied, “Didn’t things not work out with Nick Sirianni,” referencing Tampa Bay blowing out Philadelphia, 32-9, in the wild-card round, Bedard cited a previous scenario with former Eagles coach Doug Pederson, who was fired after the 2020 season when the team finished 4-11-1.
“Well, yes, but similar to Doug Pederson, Doug Pederson was coming back until he had that postseason meeting with [general manager] Howie [Roseman] and [team owner] Jeffrey Lurie. And they wanted Doug Pederson to do certain things, fire certain people, and he wouldn’t do it so he got fired. Apparently, Nick Sirianni was amenable to all that stuff, so they decided for one more year that they’re going to keep him,” Bedard said.
The Eagles had a major coaching overhaul to start the new year, dismissing offensive coordinator Brian Johnson and defensive coordinator Sean Desai, who have since been replaced by Kellen Moore and Vic Fangio, respectively.
Fangio joined the Eagles following his surprising exit from the Dolphins after a playoff berth, while Moore just wrapped his first season with the Chargers.
Bedard even suggested the Eagles could have been one of the teams reaching out to Belichick before the six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach parted ways with the Patriots after 24 seasons earlier this month.
“Remember, I told you guys that, before the end of the season, that teams had already reached out to Bill, back-channeled on Bill. I thought the Falcons were definitely one of them. I’m now pretty convinced that the Eagles were the other one. When things were going south, they thought this might end poorly with Sirianni, and I wouldn’t be surprised, given the relationship that Howie and Bill have, that the Eagles were one of those teams to back channel through Bill,” he said.
Belichick had been linked to the Falcons as Atlanta brass dismissed head coach Arthur Smith after three losing seasons.
Though Belichick interviewed for the head coaching vacancy twice, the Falcons hired former Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris.
There’s a possibility Belichick will sit out from coaching in 2024 and potentially segue into TV.
No matter Belichick’s next move, NFL front offices will likely be watching.