Belichick Firing Decision Influenced by 'Lessons From Tom Brady' for Patriots' Kraft?
Is the status of Bill Belichick really changing as often as the reporting on it is?
The latest national media report regarding the legendary coach's future with the New England Patriots is a credible one and a sensible one - but it's also a different one.
Call it "Lessons Learned from Tom.'' ... a concept that now rule out a firing by owner Robert Kraft of the iconic boss.
“Kraft,'' per Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network,'' is ... conscientious of how the Tom Brady situation played out and wants to make sure Belichick's exit, whenever it comes, is handled the right way, making a firing (as opposed to a “mutual parting”) highly unlikely.''
This obviously doesn't mean that Belichick is staying for a Year No. 25 in Foxboro, even though a) he is under contract to do so and b) one national writer who ostensibly possesses some Patriots intel used the phrase "less than 50-50'' to describe the chances of a continued marriage between Kraft and Belichick.
The departure of Brady after he helped deliver all those Super Bowls here was tinged in bitterness ... and the quarterback and the coach have had to at times re-steer the narrative to recognize that their greatness was a matter of teamwork and should be remembered that way historically.
Kraft, even through this miserably disappointing season - the last-place Patriots are 4-12 with one game to play in a season in which Kraft expressly said he expected a playoff berth - obviously respects Belichick's tremendous resume.
Maybe a "firing'' tarnishes that and leaves a bad taste, just as the Brady departure did.
So ... "not a firing.'' But that's "not a promise of a continuation of employment,'' either, as just because Kraft knows how much the head coach has meant to the organization doesn't mean the relationship goes on forever.
A "mutual parting''? A trade of the coach to a place he wishes to land? A warm-and-fuzzy goodbye press conference? Maybe ... because the idea of "Lessons Learned from Tom'' sounds like it is about how the future history books are written - and now about how 2024 will unfold.
