One of the most dominant dynasties in all of sports is no longer. The New England Patriots have been on an absolute downward spiral after the departure of Tom Brady a few seasons ago. Many believed with Bill Belichick sticking through it as the head coach, the Patriots would be able to resurrect. That certainly hasn't been the case. Despite a substandard record in the post-Brady era, New England will keep Belichick in-house and does not have any intention of firing him midseason.

It's been reported that Belichick's new contract will cover the 2023 and 2024 seasons. NFL Network's Ian Rapoport mentioned, ” My understanding is owner Robert Craft is not inclined to fire Bill Belichick midseason, which is unbelievable and amazing that we are even discussing this, but given the last couple of years, at least it is a topic in New England.”

“There's a lot of reasons why it makes no sense to fire Bill Belichick midseason. First of all it's the greatest coach of all time, sometimes these guys are treated differently. This other part of this just functionally, if Belichick is going to somehow, some way coach elsewhere next year, Patriots have him under contract, they would at least want some sort of compensation,” said Rapoport.

Craft and the Patriots are playing the long game right now. They could blow this thing up, but they're a franchise with a standard and winning. Bellicheck may not be with the team in a couple of years, but with a contract like this new England is testing the waters on both the team's potential improvement and possible trade partners for Belichick.