Bill Belichick wants to be back on an NFL sideline in 2025 — as a coach.
The former New England Patriots coach is “fully invested” and “intends to coach in 2025,” NFL Media recently reported.
After parting ways with the Patriots in January, Belichick wasn’t able to find a new home this offseason. Seven other teams passed on hiring him as their head coach, with the Atlanta Falcons being the only team to formally interview him.
The lack of interest in Belichick, who coached the Patriots to six Super Bowl wins, might be surprising to some. But FOX Sports’ Colin Cowherd isn’t shocked based on his track record in the previous two seasons, which saw the Patriots go 12-22. Belichick also ran football operations in New England, but Cowherd said he wouldn’t want to hire the highly-accomplished coach if he insisted on building the roster due to his “terrible” drafting in recent years.
In fact, Cowherd believes he can narrow down Belichick’s next possible coaching home to three teams based on what he’s heard from his NFL sources.
“The Beli-check list in my opinion, from what I’ve heard, are three teams: Philadelphia, Dallas and Buffalo,” Cowherd said on a recent edition of “The Herd.” “I’ve heard two things about Belichick, and I trust my sources on this: He would rather stay out East He [has] got his place in Nantucket. He golfs down in Jupiter, Florida, and Bill doesn’t have any interest [in] moving everybody out West.
“The second thing, he would like the quarterback situation to be stable. The instability post-[Tom] Brady was his downfall [in New England]. There’s nothing more stable than Dak [Prescott] and Josh Allen. Jalen Hurts, we’ll wait and see, but my guess is he’ll rebound and have a better year. “
The Eagles and Cowboys were rumored as possible Belichick suitors this past offseason. The Eagles internally discussed replacing Nick Siranni with Belichick following their disappointing end to the 2023 season, ESPN reported in April. Meanwhile, many speculated that the Cowboys would fire Mike McCarthy following their playoff loss to the Green Bay Packers and hire Belichick due to his friendship with owner Jerry Jones.
While those two teams have arguably had the strongest links to Belichick since he became a coaching free agent, Cowherd thinks the third team on the “Beli-check list” is the one to watch for.
“Buffalo is really intriguing to me, not because Sean McDermott is not a good coach … but you get to a point with McDermott [where it might be time to move off him],” Cowherd said. ‘The receiving corps seems light. The offense has been productive with Josh Allen, but we worry about that side progressing – [offensive coordinator] hires, O-line and lack of run game. You got Houston rising. Justin Herbert’s got Jim Harbaugh. The Ravens are still elite. Here comes Joe Burrow. Trevor Lawrence has his best roster.
“I think Sean McDermott, without being on the hot seat, there is a sense that you can’t just win the division again. You’ve got to have higher standards. I know Buffalo’s a small market, if they win 10 games and go 10-7, they win a playoff game, everybody goes, ‘Maybe next year.'” But I feel like there’s an underlying heat on Sean McDermott. I don’t care what his contract status is. All those contracts are rounding errors for billionaire owners at this point.”
Can the Bills survive without Stefon Diggs?
The Bills have had some underwhelming finishes over the last few years since they lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2020 AFC Championship. They’ve yet to make it back to the conference title game, losing in the Divisional Round in each of the last three years. The loss this past season might have been the worst of the three, losing at home to a Chiefs team that many viewed as the most vulnerable of the Patrick Mahomes era.
So, if Belichick wound up in Buffalo, he would take over a team that’s been on the cusp of playing in the Super Bowl but has failed to get over the hump. There might also be some personal incentive for him to take the Bills job too, according to Cowherd.
“He could also come back and rub it in the Patriots’ face,” Cowherd said. “We know Belichick can hold grudges. You don’t think he wants to face the Patriots twice a year and rub it in Robert Kraft’s face? You’re out of your mind.”
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