Bill Belichick Rumor: 'No Truth' To Washington Commanders Gossip About Trading To Hire Patriots Coach - Report
If a consumer of information about the Washington Commanders - a "consumer" meaning you - is attempting to discern the difference between a "rumor" and a "report"?
The strange case of this "Bill Belichick to the Washington Commanders trade" talk offers a fine example.
On Wednesday, a rumor began to take hold suggesting that the Commanders could engineer a trade with the New England Patriots for the legendary NFL head coach this offseason. And how did it "take hold" as a "story"? Because ProFootballTalk.com wrote a "story" about it.
Belichick and the Commanders?
At one point, PFT's Mike Florio appeared on "The Dan Patrick Show" and took a pseudo-cryptic angle, saying, “There’s some rumors out there on the grapevine, there’s some theories, out there about potential candidates to take over the team, possibly a coach who we think is going to get fired by the Patriots but might be traded by the Patriots to the Commanders when the season is over. Who knows?”
At another point, Florio went stronger than that, writing, "What I heard over the weekend from someone I know and someone I trust that made me say, 'Whoa, that's interesting,' is the possibility that the end result for the Commanders is a trade with the Patriots for Bill Belichick. And it makes sense when you think about it."
We're with PFT on the "who knows?" part. We're not as certain on the "it makes sense" part at all.
Belichick, 71, signed a multiyear extension with the Patriots this past offseason. At the same time, the "hot seat" concept applies in New England, where there have been indications all year that after 24 seasons together, owner Robert Kraft and the all-powerful Belichick have clashed. (That "hot seat" might be positioned right alongside the one Washington coach Ron Rivera himself sits in, by the way.)
Kraft's stated expectation for this season was a playoff run; Belichick's Patriots are instead 2-6 and by record are the AFC's worst team. But, having said all of that ... is this trade concept an idea percolating in the Washington front office led by new owner Josh Harris?
"Checked in with a few people," responded the plugged-in D.C. reporter J.P. Finlay, "and there’s “no truth” to the future Belichick and Washington speculation that’s been thrown around. Has not been discussed.''
Still, Florio fights on, with yet another offering on "a Belichick trade," writing, "It's not a report, but it's definitely something that is making its way around the grapevine."
