Rumor claims Bill Belichick declined offer to become one team's new head coach
The general belief regarding Bill Belichick's future once it was announced he would be leaving the Patriots was he would find a new job fairly easily and quickly. Because a coach of his caliber has never been available for teams to interview and hire outside of the one they were the most successful with, it seemed like the perfect opportunity for a struggling team to bring in the best of the best.
For a while, it looked like Belichick would follow Tom Brady's path to the NFC South and become the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons. But those conversations seemed to fizzle out, and owner Arthur Blank hired someone else for the job.
Now that all the vacancies are filled, Belichick will be watching the 2024 NFL season from home, which is still weird to say out loud. There has been a lot of debate about why the Falcons chose not to hire him or why other teams were hesitant even to interview him, but it remains mostly speculation and educated guesses.
But now a new theory has been thrown into the mix by the guy who dropped the bombshell that Brady potentially signed with the Raiders and brought Rob Gronkowski with him, a deal allegedly in place with the head coach at the time, Jon Gruden.
That man's name is Brandon Lang, a sports handicapper who appeared on 98.5 The Sports Hub's "Felger and Mazz" on Tuesday to drop another 'bomb' regarding Belichick's job search this offseason.
“My bomb for the Boston audience is this: Bill Belichick didn’t take any jobs, he interviewed with the Atlanta Falcons and said, ‘You know what, Arthur’s going to fire a blank here. Atlanta’s not ready to win. It was nice to interview but I’m done. He’s going to sit back, (Mike) McCarthy is going to wet the bed again. Jerry (Jones) is going to fire him and Bill is going to say, ‘All right, Jerry, here I come buddy. Let’s go do it,’ and he’s going to end up in Dallas next year.”
This isn't the first time someone has connected Belichick to the Cowboys in recent weeks, with even owner Jerry Jones seemingly hinting at the idea of it happening as soon as next season. It was a possible landing spot for him after the Cowboys failed in the playoffs again this year, putting Mike McCarthy in the hot seat. But Jones made it clear he was sticking with the head coach through the duration of his contract, which ends after the 2024 season.
It's the same thing said about the Eagles, who weren't thrilled with Nick Sirriani after the team was blown out by the Packers last month. Because he may also be gone next year, Belichick could move on to Philadelphia instead.
Given Belichick's rumored contentment with not coaching this year, these theories have seemed credible. If that is accurate, and any of these rumors are, too, it would make sense why he wasn't sweating not landing a job for the 2024 season.
It will be interesting to see if any of this comes to fruition over the next year, especially if it involves either team in the NFC East, as both could help the head coach beat Don Shula's all-time wins record pretty quickly.
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