While the New England Patriots' Big 3 of Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, and Robert Kraft put out the flames of the reported turmoil during their bye week, defensive coordinator Matt Patricia did his due diligence regarding his next coaching gig. Patricia met with a number of teams during the Patriots' extra time off, including the Detroit Lions and New York Giants.

During that time, he became an early frontrunner for the Giants' head coaching vacancy. However, ESPN's Jordan Raanan is reporting that he will likely end up with the Lions due to his familiarity with general manager Bob Quinn.

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“Multiple league sources on Wednesday afternoon still believed Patricia ultimately ends up with the Lions. His connection to general manager Bob Quinn makes it an obvious marriage.”

The rumor certainly comes as a surprise considering there were reports that Patricia was initially leaning toward New York. However, it seems his relationship with Quinn has started to play a huge factor in his decision-making process.

Quinn spent over a decade in the Patriots' scouting department before joining the Lions prior to the 2016 NFL season. During that time, both he and Patricia rose through the ranks of their respective fields and now appear poised to join forces in Detroit.

That said, there is still plenty of speculation surrounding the current coaching landscape in the NFL. It will be interesting to see if Quinn and Patricia are willing to attempt to translate the success they enjoyed together all those years in New England to a Detroit team that largely underwhelmed in 2017.