Don’t hold your breath waiting for a decision regarding the future of Bill Belichick in New England.
According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the head coach’s “fate… has not yet been decided.”
The Patriots entered Sunday’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs a woeful 3-10 and had lost five straight games before a win at Pittsburgh last week.
The recent expectation, according to Tom Curran of NBC Sports Boston, was that Patriots owner Robert Kraft was “planning to part ways with the longtime head coach at the end of the season” following a 10-6 loss to the Colts in Germany on Nov. 12 that dropped the Patriots’ record to 2-8.
Now, the decision might not come until the Patriots finish out the string of their regular sejh ason, according to Rapoport.
After Sunday’s game against Kansas City in Foxborough, Belichick and the Patriots have games at Denver and Buffalo before a final home game versus the Jets on Jan. 7.
How the Patriots play in those games could play a role in whether Kraft decides to retain Belichick, Rapoport writes.
A win on Sunday over the Chiefs, who entered the game in first place in the AFC West but having lost two in a row, might spark a late-season run by New England, although road games against the Broncos and Bills figure to be daunting.
And a collapse would also hurt Belichick’s hopes, even after signing a new deal prior to this season.
Asked about the NBC Boston report during the week, Belichick responded, “Getting ready for Kansas City. That’s what I’m doing.”
The Patriots are coming off a better showing from the offense in the win over Pittsburgh, which came in the second straight start for quarterback Bailey Zappe, who took over for the benched Mac Jones. It was considered more impressive because it came in a short week for New England.
By all accounts, Belichick seems secure for the rest of this season, given his storied legacy with the franchise he’s led to six Super Bowl titles.
What happens after that is where the intrigue figures to come in, with a mutual parting of ways following the season one possibility, as well as the chance the Patriots could get compensation from a team interested in making Belichick its head coach — with Belichick’s approval.
Belichick could also return to coach the Patriots again in 2024.
Kraft said before the season he expected his team to reach the playoffs, but they have responded with their worst results in over two decades.