With whispers that New England Patriots head coach/general manager Bill Belichick might be on the hot seat, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport quieted the noise that the Pats might move on from the 71-year-old in the offseason last week when he reported Belichick signed a multiyear contract extension last year.
During an appearance on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show” on Wednesday, however, Rapoport revealed a key detail of Belichick’s new deal that many had been wondering about. Belichick has not been asked to give up full control over personnel decisions.
“Now, Bill obviously has significant say — final say,” Rapoport said. “I have not heard of him giving up final say, if that’s what you’re wondering. I have not heard that this contract forces him or allows him to give up final say. If that is the case, that would be some news to me. But it’s not impossible.”
* @AdamSchefter on @PatMcAfeeShow about Bill Belichick:
— Sophie Weller (@sophieewellerr) October 16, 2023
"GM Bill has hurt Coach Bill. Coach Bill is arguably the greatest coach of all time, but GM Bill has hurt Coach Bill because they just don't have the same level of talent that other teams do right now for whatever reason."
Many media pundits had spent the last few weeks debating if Belichick should relinquish his GM powers to focus solely on his head-coaching duties, citing the state of New England’s current roster and his recent lack of success at drafting top-tier talent. (He’s drafted just three Pro Bowlers since 2013.)
Rapoport stated that Belichick certainly gets input from those in the Pats front office, including director of player personnel Matt Groh and director of scouting Eliot Wolf, but all player personnel decisions are his, and his alone, to make.
Bill Belichick has been failing as the Patriots GM for at least 5 years.
— Savage (@SavageSports_) October 17, 2023
People forget that one of the reasons Tom Brady wanted to leave is the lack of offensive talent in 2019.
Then he literally had no succession plan for Tom Brady.
It’s been rough for a while from a GM…
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