NFL Rumors: Bill Belichick Eyed Full Control of Falcons, Led to 'Crossroads' in Talks

Bill Belichick's desire to have full control of football operations reportedly led to the Atlanta Falcons' decision to pass on him.

According to Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports, a source close to the Falcons and team owner Arthur Blank said the two sides reached a crossroads when Belichick expressed his desire for "the full scope of football operations, personnel and coaching" to be under his control.

Despite interviewing Belichick for their vacant head coaching position twice, the Falcons went in a different direction by hiring Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris as their new head coach Thursday.

The source noted to Robinson that Belichick and Blank "never discussed a detailed plan" regarding how the balance of power would work within the Falcons organization if Belichick was hired, but Atlanta opted for a more traditional setup instead.

During his 24 years as head coach of the New England Patriots, Belichick was essentially the head coach and general manager throughout his tenure.

That system yielded great results, the Belichick went 266-121 and led the Pats to 17 AFC East titles and six Super Bowl wins.

However, things went south in New England after the departure of legendary quarterback Tom Brady, as the Patriots missed the playoffs in three of the past four seasons and went just 4-13 this season, which was their worst record under Belichick.

Due to the overall lack of success in the post-Brady era, it called into question if Belichick was still capable of building a winner.

Belichick looked like the early favorite to land the Falcons' head coaching job, but that would have required some restructuring, including a different role for general manager Terry Fontenot.

The 71-year-old may have been all in on getting the job in Atlanta as well based on ESPN's Jeremy Fowler reporting Thursday that none of his sources believed Belichick had "something else brewing" with another team.

Now, the only teams left with a head coaching vacancy are the Seattle Seahawks and Washington Commanders, and Belichick doesn't appear to be in the running for either of those jobs.

ESPN's Adam Schefter said Friday during an appearance on Get Up that "every sign" points to Belichick not landing a head coaching position during the current cycle.

Belichick is considered by many to be the greatest head coach of all time, but he now faces the potential reality of his head coaching career being over.

A team could opt to hire him next year, but he will be another year older, and it is possible he won't want to pursue other opportunities if he takes the next year off.

If Belichick doesn't catch on elsewhere, he will finish with 302 career regular-season coaching wins, which is third all time, 26 behind leader Don Shula.

When taking the playoffs into account as well, Belichick has 333 wins, putting him just 14 behind Shula.

This season was the first without Brady since 1999 following his retirement, and if Belichick doesn't coach in 2024, it will be his first season outside the NFL in some coaching capacity since 1974.