Round and round the NFL coaching carousel goes, and as Mike Florio said Wednesday, there’s speculation as to where Bill Belichick could potentially go.
During an appearance on Barstool Sports’ “Pardon My Take,” the NFL insider weighed in on recent chatter surrounding the Patriots head coach, whose future in New England has been widely discussed amid a dismal season.
When asked where the Super Bowl champion could be coaching next year, Florio laid out a series of recent events — an October report about Belichick’s “lucrative” contract extension and a November story about how New England might look for compensation in the event of a move — and how things could potentially be pieced together behind the scenes.
“Whether it’s the Commanders, whether it’s the Buccaneers, whether it’s the Panthers, whether it’s the Chargers, anyone out there that wants him knows you’ve got to work with us, you’ve got to deal with us, you’ve got to give us something we like before you get him,” Florio said.
“… I think what will happen behind the scenes over the course of the next six-seven weeks, they’ll work out a deal. If there is a deal to be made, it’s going to be worked out quietly between the Patriots, wherever he’s going to end up, and Belichick, and then after the season, the dominos will all be lined up and it’s just a matter of flicking the first domino at the right time and it will all fall together the way that we won’t know until it happens.”
Although Belichick, 71, has been linked to the Commanders in recent weeks, the Buccaneers — where quarterback Tom Brady went in 2020 following two decades in New England — is described by Florio as a “fascinating” choice.
“So the teams to watch that I mentioned, the Buccaneers, Panthers, Commanders, Chargers, those are the four I’d watch most closely. And of those, the one that I think is the most fascinating is the Buccaneers,” he said.
“And JoeBucsFan.com and Ira Kaufman, I don’t know if you guys have ever had him on. He’s excellent. He’s been covering the Buccaneers forever, he’s a firm believer that this fits the M.O. of the Glazers [who own the Buccaneers]. Go out and hire a big name, put butts in the seats, they can’t get people to come to the games now that they don’t have Brady. Go after Belichick, put butts in the seats, if he wins, he wins, if he doesn’t, he doesn’t, but we’re going to make money in the interim by filling up our stadium.”
While all four teams have not made an in-season coaching change, it remains to be seen if Belichick will be on the move in early 2024 for likely a package of draft picks.
Todd Bowles is in his second season as Buccaneers coach and has gone 12-14 thus far after he previously spent four years coaching the Jets.
For now, though, he and the 2-8 Patriots are preparing to face the Giants (3-8) on Sunday.