Ex-Patriots staffer: Robert Kraft’s plan for Belichick is not a ‘completely-done decision’

"How do you see this organization running for the next 10 years?"

Bill Belichick's future in New England stands as the top storyline to close out the 2023 Patriots season. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

By Conor Ryan

December 14, 2023

3 minutes to read

With the 3-10 Patriots crawling to the finish line in a miserable 2023 season, the prevailing narrative hovering over Foxborough these days surrounds the future of Bill Belichick as head coach.

But amid all of the speculation surrounding the legendary head coach and the tough decision that awaits Robert Kraft and the team’s ownership group, NBC Sports Boston’s Tom E. Curran dropped a bombshell report earlier this week — with the longtime Patriots scribe noting that the decision about Belichick’s future has already been determined by Kraft.

“When they came out of [the 10-6 loss to the Colts on Nov. 12 in] Germany, conversations I had that week made it very clear that a decision was made,” Curran said during an appearance on “Arbella Early Edition” on Monday. “They were going to play out the string, and at the end of the year, there would be a parting of the ways for a variety of reasons.”

As expected, any report mapping out some level of finality with Belichick’s future in New England has drawn plenty of headlines. And while Belichick has remained mum on the topic, several former NFL players and staffers have given their take about Kraft’s franchise-shifting decision.

Former NFL GM and ex-Patriots staffer Michael Lombardi joined that list on Thursday morning during an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show”.

Lombardi, who worked under Bill Belichick as an assistant to the Patriots’ coaching staff from 2014-16, has regularly spoken out in support of Belichick over the years.

But when asked about Curran’s report, Lombardi did acknowledge there’s plenty of smoke surrounding Belichick’s job status in New England. However, he also added that his main takeaway from the report revolves around the timing of a potential ousting for Belichick.

"I don't think Tom Curran would have put the story out unless he felt really comfortable with it..

I think the timing tells me that the real message is we're not gonna fire Bill Belichick during the season" ~ @mlombardiNFL #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/llkmFOQOlH
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) December 14, 2023

“I do think Curran definitely has sources. And I don’t think he would have put this story out unless he felt really comfortable with it,” Lombardi said on “The Pat McAfee Show”. “He’s done a great job. He’s covered the team for a long time. I found it interesting that it came out this week as opposed to the week they came back during their bye week or the week before when they played Tommy DeVito in New York.

“I think the timing tells me that what the message really is we are not going to fire Bill Belichick in-season. So if we lose by 21 points on Sunday to the Chiefs, don’t come ask us that we’re going to fire him.”

Lombardi doesn’t believe that Kraft’s decision is necessarily set in stone, given the long-term implications that would come from parting ways with Belichick.

From Lombardi’s perspective, Belichick’s future in New England might ultimately come down to whether or not Belichick is malleable to a change in direction from the organization — with Belichick potentially given less pull in terms of all personnel decisions.”

Maybe the Kraft family has decided we don’t really want the Lone Star model,” Lombardi said of the Krafts changing their leadership structure in 2024. “Maybe we need a more collaborative effort as we get later in our careers and as the head coach gets later in his career. So maybe they sit down and say, ‘Hey, listen, we want to do this with the organization. And the vision we have that is going to move forward doesn’t support the Lone Star model.’ Again, this is all hypothetical.

“And so I think that’s kind of where it is. How do you see this organization running for the next 10 years? And you’re not going to replace Bill Belichick. You’re just not going to do it. I mean, you’re not going to do it from a coaching standpoint. But perhaps you could replace him with three or four more people and have a collaborative organization, which, I think that’s the conversation.

“And if Bill says ‘Yeah, I think I could do that.’ Then maybe he stays. If Bill says, ‘No, that’s not in the best interest of me,’ then maybe he goes. To me, that’s why I don’t see it as a completely done decision. Because this is really about the future of how we want to run the company.”