If Bill Belichick and Patriots part ways after 2023, what happens next for Belichick?

Earlier this week, Patriots owner Robert Kraft put coach Bill Belichick on the hot seat. If Belichick doesn’t get back to the playoffs for the third time in four years, it could be over for Belichick in New England.

So let’s spin it forward. If the Patriots fail to qualify for the postseason in 2023, and if Kraft decides it’s time to move on, what happens to Belichick?

He could walk away for a year or longer. He doesn’t need to do it. But coaching is so much of who he is and who he has been, how could he just pull the plug?

The real question becomes whether another team would move immediately to hire him. When a cluster of Steelers fans inevitably (and foolishly) gripes about coach Mike Tomlin during random periods of difficulty, the truth is that, if Tomlin were fired, he’d instantly have his pick of jobs.

For Belichick, would that be the case? No G.M. who hopes to retain his authority would hire a coach who has been the ultimate authority for two-plus decades. It would have to be a team that has opted to clean house.

So who would do it? The Cowboys? The Browns? (He once coached the old Browns, now the Ravens.) The Chargers? The Commanders, under a new owner? The Buccaneers? (The Tom Brady parallels would be awesome.)

Then there are the Bills. They have quarterback Josh Allen. They have underachieved in recent years. Could the Bills empty out the organization and turn everything over to Belichick?

It’s hard to imagine someone not wanting Belichick. But there’s a different aura around him now than there was five years ago.

First, he’d have to want to keep going. If he does, he’d surely get a chance. And with the right roster, there’s a chance he could be the first coach to win a Super Bowl with two different teams.

If Bill Belichick and Patriots part ways after 2023, what happens next for Belichick? originally appeared on Pro Football Talk