Are the Patriots going to incite a bidding war for Bill Belichick at the end of the season? Tom E. Curran weighs in with his My Slant
Bill Belichick's future as the head coach of the New England Patriots is uncertain as the 2023 NFL regular season winds down.
The Patriots sit at the bottom of the AFC standings with a 3-11 record and will miss the playoffs for the third time in the last four years.
If Belichick's 24-year tenure in New England ends in January or February, it'll be fascinating to see which teams with head coach vacancies pursue him.
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One potential destination that's led to plenty of speculation is the Los Angeles Chargers, who fired head coach Brandon Staley and general manager Tom Telesco earlier this month. In fact, ESPN's Dan Graziano wrote Wednesday he's "heard that the Chargers could be a place Bill Belichick might want to go if the Patriots do in fact move on from him."
While the Chargers and Belichick do seem like a good match, one prominent player is hoping it doesn't happen.
Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce addressed the topic on the "New Heights" podcast with his brother Jason this week.
“Go get, like, a young, never-heard-of college coach,” Travis said with a smile. “I don’t want a (expletive) good coach to come in my (expletive) division, dude. Get the (expletive) out of here. I hope they (expletive) hire some jabroni, man.”
Kelce clearly has enormous respect for Belichick, but at the same time, the Chargers being a better-coached team with Belichick at the helm would not be good for the Chiefs. The Chiefs and Chargers play each other twice per season as division rivals in the AFC West, and Kelce probably doesn't want to face a Belichick defense that often.
The Chiefs beat the Patriots 27-17 last week, but Belichick's defense kept Kelce in check and held him to just five receptions for 28 yards.
"I've got all the respect in the world for that guy," Kelce said after last Sunday's game, via Brendan McGair of the Pawtucket Times. "Every single time I go up against him -- it's the toughest job in the NFL, to go up against a Belichick defense. He throws so much at you.
"He always has a lot of guys that can play smart, so hats off to Belichick today for making my life tough, that's for damn sure. On top of that, he's getting a good group of guys to play well together. I've got a lot of respect for that team."
