Patriots News: Bill Belichick, Demario Douglas, Matt Patricia and Bailey Zappe

Matt Patricia is seemingly promoted to defensive coordinator for the Eagles

The departure of Matt Patricia this offseason felt like a long time coming, but a highly appreciated decision by Bill Belichick. The experiment of having the longtime defensive coach take over play-calling duties after Josh McDaniels was an absolute bust, basically throwing away an entire season for the Patriots.

It seemed like an inevitable fate, given his contract with the Lions expired at the end of the 2022 season, meaning the Patriots were then on the hook to pay him if they wanted to retain him for the future.

Belichick is historically known for bringing in coaches who impact other teams' pocketbooks. Joe Judge also fills that out right now, so it wasn't all that shocking when Patricia signed with the Eagles during the preseason.

What was surprising was hearing that he would be taking over as the defensive play-caller this week for the Eagles matchup with the Seahawks on Monday Night Football. Before the game, he had reportedly had a quieter role within the defensive staff, but something changed, and they chose to promote him for the last leg of the season.

How the Eagles will fare will be fascinating to watch, especially since Patricia had been (at one point) an impressive defensive coach.