Can Bill Belichick follow in the footsteps of the legendary quarterback he chose not to re-sign three years ago?
Last week, it was reported that Belichick agreed to a “lucrative new multi-year contract” with the New England Patriots this offseason. Our Tom E. Curran provides context Belichick’s contract runs through 2024, and a new deal wouldn’t necessarily deter Patriots owner Robert ·Craft parted ways with his head coach.
Sports Illustrated’s Albert Brill joins Patriots pregame live stream On Sunday, we shared more information about Belichick’s current contract and how it could be similar in some ways to Tom Brady’s final contract with the Patriots before he leaves the team in free agency in 2020 .
“If you go back and look at the initial contract reports from last week, there’s one word you didn’t hear, and that’s ‘extension,’ because it’s not an extension,” Breer said of Belichick’s deal.
“(My understanding) is that this is a new deal, whether it effectively lasts until 2024 or 2025, my understanding is that it doesn’t change anything. If it only lasts until 2024, then, It kind of holds true a little bit like what happened with Tom Brady four years ago.
“It was also originally advertised as an extension, and about an hour or two after the initial news broke, Tom Brady came forward and said some weird things for someone who just got an extension, and then ultimately, we found out that Transaction successful more “There’s a good chance he’ll leave after 2019.”
For context, an initial report in August 2019 suggested Brady and the Patriots agreed to a two-year, $70 million contract extension. In reality, however, the deal is more of a reorganization than an extension and does not guarantee Brady’s future in New England after the 2019 season. Sure enough, Brady became a free agent in 2020 and signed a two-year, $50 million contract with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
While it’s too early to tell whether Belichick will follow a similar path, Breer noted that the Patriots head coach is in a similar situation “year-by-year” with the team.
“My thoughts on the issue are pretty much the same: If 2024 is indeed a contract year, they’re going to make a decision after this year,” Brill said.
“Typically, teams that make a decision on a coach make it before the contract year, so they don’t put their coach in a lame duck year. My assumption is the Patriots would want that as well.
“So if you look at it as a new two-year contract as opposed to an extension, and he’s signed in ’23 and ’24, then we’re talking about the Patriots going to do something with their coach. The decision is made after this year. In the NFL, it’s normal for owners to eat up a year or two of a coaching contract to get rid of him if they so choose.
“So it’s still important after this year that we’re waiting on Bill Belichick’s decision on Robert Kraft. I don’t think the contract has much of an impact at all.”
That means the stakes remain extremely high for Belichick and his 2-5 Patriots, who are in danger of missing the playoffs for the third time in four years.