Executives reveal if they'd fire Patriots' Bill Belichick during bye

As of Monday afternoon, there was no hint that New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft will part ways with legendary head coach Bill Belichick during the club's bye. 

Multiple "team president-types" spoke with NFL insider Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated about how they'd handle what's become a delicate situation. 

"What would be the goal of that? Are you making the playoffs? Do you want to jumpstart the team and get a lower pick? He has earned the right to finish the year," one person said about the Belichick matter during a chat with Breer. "The Patriots are a great franchise. Great owners. Do the classy thing and let him have a proper sendoff. Maybe you announce in December he won’t return and honor him in the final home game. But firing him now would just be ego." 

Ahead of what became New England's 10-6 loss to the Indianapolis Colts in Germany on Sunday, beat writer Chris Mason of MassLive poured cold water over any idea that Kraft would fire Belichick if the Patriots entered the bye at 2-8. 

"I know the Patriots coach himself has never been nostalgic with players when their productivity declines, but Kraft has six Super Bowl banners flying in his stadium because of the work Belichick did alongside Tom Brady," Mason noted. 

Rumblings emerged last week indicating that quarterback Mac Jones has annoyed both coaches and teammates since the start of the 2022 campaign. It's now thought at least some in the locker room have lost faith in Jones after he was benched on Sunday for the third time this season. 

"It depends on so many factors but I would have to know what the locker room thought," a different individual told Breer about Kraft potentially firing Belichick. "I’m also not sure what they get out of it. Pretty hard to dismiss him during the year given his career record. I would imagine they let him finish it out." 

Not everybody agreed. A third person said he thinks Kraft wants to fire Belichick as soon as Monday and could ultimately "take the [general manager] job away and hire a GM, hoping that’ll make Bill quit." 

Belichick signed a multi-year contract extension this past offseason that reportedly only runs through the 2024 campaign and may be interested in joining a different organization this winter even though he turns 72 years old in April. For what it's worth, Breer wrote he believes Belichick will finish out the season with the Patriots as the club inches toward possibly "earning" the first pick in next year's draft that could be used to acquire either USC Trojans quarterback Caleb Williams or Drake Maye of the North Carolina Tar Heels.