Bill Belichick ducks questions about Patriots future amid hot-seat reports
Bill Belichick went back to a common refrain when asked about his future with the Patriots on Wednesday.
"Getting ready for Kansas City," he said.
That was also his reply when asked about a recent report claiming that owner Robert Kraft has already decided the longtime New England coach's fate.
According to a report Tuesday from NBC Sports Boston, the team decided following its Week 10 loss to the Colts in Germany that it would let Belichick go at the end of the season. New England lost that game to Indianapolis 10-6, falling to 2-8 on the season ahead of its bye week.
In the lead-up to the Patriots' tilt against the Colts overseas, Kraft stated the importance of the Germany game on multiple occasions, saying he "very much" wanted to win that matchup and even giving a rare speech to the team on the eve of the game.
"This our 30th year that I've had the privilege of owning this team, and I've never been 2-7," Kraft told NFL Network just hours prior to the game. "So it's really disappointing. I had hoped that things would be a lot better, as I know our fan base did. And I hope today is a chance to reset and make this a much better year. This isn't what we were expecting to happen this year."
Following the Patriots' loss in Germany, Belichick opted to stick with Mac Jones as starting quarterback following the bye week. But in the team's first game back, Jones was benched after throwing two interceptions in the first half against the Giants. The Patriots lost that game and were shut out by the Chargers 6-0 a week later when Bailey Zappe made his first start of the season.
Zappe and the Patriots picked up a road upset over the Steelers last week, but that hasn't shut down any questions about Belichick's future. He's on pace to have the worst season in his 24 years as head coach.
People close to Kraft believed that his plan entering the season was to have Belichick coach for two more years and have defensive assistant Jerod Mayo take over in 2025. But with the way the season has gone, Kraft is rethinking things, ESPN reported Wednesday. People in and around the team now believe that Mayo taking over for Belichick next season is "the most likely outcome," ESPN added in its report.
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With Belichick's future in New England in question, speculation has grown on where he could end up next. The Commanders, Panthers and Chargers have been among the commonly speculated teams viewed as possible suitors to land the six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach, But they might have to give up compensation to get Belichick depending on how his departure from New England goes.
Despite the Patriots achieving unprecedented success during Belichick's tenure, they've mostly struggled following the departure of Tom Brady. They've missed the playoffs in three of the four years since the legendary quarterback left Foxborough, going 28-35 in the regular season since 2020.
While the Patriots have been eliminated from playoff contention, they still have four games left in the season. On Sunday, they take on a Chiefs team that has lost two in a row (1 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app). But it doesn't seem likely that "Getting ready for Kansas City" will galvanize the Patriots in the same way that "We're on to Cincinnati" did in 2014, when New England won the Super Bowl.