NFL Exec: Patriots' 'Best Move' Is to Replace Bill Belichick with Young HC, New GM

Bill Belichick might be one of the greatest NFL coaches ever, but he and the New England Patriots might benefit from going their separate ways.

That's at least the opinion of one NFL executive, who pointed to the Patriots' stagnation after Tom Brady left in 2020.

"The transition from Brady to where they are at now is such an indictment," the exec said to The Athletic's Mike Sando. "Their best move is to bring in a young offensive coach with a new GM and start fresh. You let the new offensive coach determine whether Mac can be saved. They need real change. They gotta get out of this."

Another executive reflected how Belichick's status might work against him in terms of attracting candidates to improve the coaching staff and front office.

"Who would take a job in personnel there and think that they have real power? How do you get somebody?" the exec said. "I'm wondering if that is why they ended up with Patricia and Judge a year ago, and Bill O'Brien now. Maybe nobody else wanted the jobs."

New England is 1-4 after getting shut out 34-0 on Sunday by the New Orleans Saints. Not only is the team on track to miss the playoffs for the third time in four years, but it's also on pace to finish with the worst record of Belichick's tenure. The Patriots went 5-11 in 2000, his first year with them as the head coach.

The 71-year-old was afforded a bit of a grace period after Brady left. The franchise would need time to rediscover its identity and find a new long-term solution at quarterback.

But four years into the post-Brady era, the Pats have little progress to show. It goes beyond Belichick seemingly hitching his wagons to the wrong QB, too.

Mac Jones isn't the guy at this point, having gotten benched for the second consecutive week.

However, Fox Sports' Henry McKenna noted Belichick hasn't exactly surrounded Jones with a lot of help.

"There have been some elements of Belichick's coaching and team-building style that have worked without Brady," he wrote. "But the team's inability to land top-tier playmakers for a rookie QB on his rookie contract—those are just the fundamental basics of team-building. That's one thing a GM must do. And Belichick can't seem to figure out how to do it."

Even if the Patriots were bad enough to land the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft, which would potentially put them in a position to select USC's Caleb Williams, Belichick may not be the best person to oversee a long-term rebuild.

Firing Tom Landry wasn't a popular decision by Jerry Jones, but it set the stage for three Super Bowl titles for the Dallas Cowboys in the 1990s. Jones understood Landry, regardless of what he meant to the organization, was holding the Cowboys back by the late '80s.

Should the Patriots' performances fail to improve, Patriots owner Robert Kraft may be running headlong into the same dilemma.