It’s been widely rumored that Bill Belichick is on the hot seat this season after Robert Kraft’s statements about the need to win at the League Annual Meeting this spring. Belichick has reportedly been there for a while, and the temperature has risen.
NFL News: Bill Belichick hasn’t won a playoff game in…years
Kraft’s frustrated with how last season went. The team failed to make the playoffs in Mac Jones’ second year. Kraft was unhappy that Jones had to deal with the offensive coordinator experiment, where the Patriots had no true offensive coordinator in 2022.
The Patriots have not won a playoff game since the 2018 season, which ended in a Super Bowl victory over the Los Angeles Rams. The Patriots, led by quarterback Tom Brady, would lose the Tennessee Titans in the Wild Card round after only putting up 13 points.
The Patriots have been to one playoff since the 2021 season. They were blown out 47-17 by the Buffalo Bills in the Wild Card round that year. Belichick, whose quarterback succession plan was sabotaged by Kraft, needed time to rebuild the team, especially the quarterback position after Brady left for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Bill Belichick has been on the hot seat since 2019
Brady’s success, including a Super Bowl win for the 2020 season, has shortened the elasticity Belichick is allowed for a transitional period. According to Tom Curran with NBC Sports, Belichick has been on a hot seat that has fluctuated in warmth since the 2019 season.
“He’s on the hot seat. And he’s been there at different levels of warmth since 2019,” Curran said on The Rich Eisen Show.
Curran said Belichick offered Brady a two-year deal with a team option, even after the Patriots’ front office explained to Belichick that Brady would walk if that was the offer. Brady wanted both years guaranteed. In the middle of the 2019 season, Kraft, knowing Brady’s exit was clearly coming after the 2019 season, has been following the succession plan intently since.
The New England Patriots expect to win playoff games
After watching Brady win the Super Bowl, it’s fair to say Kraft has not been impressed.
Belichick may have wanted to keep Jimmy Garoppolo initially, but he drafted Jones. Jones was good enough to lead the Patriots to the playoffs in his rookie season. To save his job, Belichick will have to ride with Jones to come out of a competitive AFC East with a playoff spot.
This will be his fourth year without Brady. He’s had enough time to find a good enough quarterback to win a playoff game.
Here’s Curran’s report on The Rich Eisen Show:
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