Rob Gronkowski, Devin McCourty explain why they don’t believe Bill Belichick will get fired

"I think he’s going to have at least one more year to adjust, make adjustments, make changes and go from there.”

Devin McCourty doesn't believe that Sunday will stand as Bill Belichick's final game coaching in New England. Jim Davis / The Boston Globe

By Conor Ryan

January 4, 2024

3 minutes to read

Just one more game stands between the New England Patriots and the merciful end to a miserable 2023 season.

But as soon as the final seconds tick off the clock on Sunday afternoon at Gillette Stadium, the next question facing Robert Kraft and team ownership is who will be leading the team during the 2024 season and beyond.

Bill Belichick’s job security has been the most compelling narrative that has hovered over Gillette Stadium for months, with calls for Belichick’s firing growing louder as the once-premier franchise in the NFL has crashed into the cellar of the AFC standings.

But with a decision on Belichick’s future potentially just days away from being rendered by Kraft and Co., two Patriots legends don’t believe that Sunday’s Week 18 matchup against the Jets will be the final time we see Belichick running things from New England’s sideline.

“I do not think, personally, this is Coach Belichick’s last game as a head coach of the New England Patriots,” Rob Gronkowski said on the “Up & Adams” Show on Wednesday. “I think he’s going to have at least one more year to adjust, make adjustments, make changes and go from there.”

Despite New England’s 4-12 record so far in 2023, Gronkowski said he wouldn’t be surprised if Belichick immediately finds success with another team in 2024 if Kraft hands him a pink slip in the coming days.

And after Tom Brady left New England in March 2020 and immediately won a Super Bowl with the Buccaneers, Gronkowski believes that the fear of a similar scenario playing out with Belichick may prompt Kraft to avoid letting his longtime coach go.

“It would just be so hard to see Bill Belichick, Coach Belichick, on another team, on another sideline, being a head coach. It’s just not an ideal situation,” Gronkowski explained. “Tom Brady already left the New England Patriots and it started going downhill from there.

“And then imagine Coach Belichick, another New England legend, getting let go and then going to another team and having success. I just don’t think that would sit well with Mr. Kraft. I think that’s in the back of his mind, that that’s a possibility. And also letting him go, knowing you’re letting go one of the greatest coaches of all time, it would just be a tough decision to make.

“So I feel like he’s gonna be there for at least one more year to turn things around, to go out, they have a lot of room in the salary cap, they’ll go bring some players in, and fix what was wrong this year.”

Former Patriots safety Devin McCourty offered up a similar verdict about Belichick’s plans for next season — noting on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show” Wednesday that Sunday “doesn’t” feel like Belichick’s final game with the Patriots.

“I think a month ago we were all kind of writing this story about what’s happening next,” McCourty said. “But I think as you look at this team, I think a lot of times people always talk about– they want to see, from an ownership standpoint, they want to see their team progress, right? When they fire coaches in the middle of the year they say, ‘Well we just looked at the team and it just doesn’t look like it’s progressing or it’s getting better,’ and when you look at the Patriots, it looks like it’s getting better.

“Like you can’t say that it doesn’t. I think the way this team has played, this defense has even gotten better while losing key pieces. The offense has gotten better even though the turnovers killed them last week. But you look at that game, like they’re close to beating Buffalo. … I think it’s really hard to move on from a guy, obviously of what he’s done, but I would say even what he’s done this year, of getting that team going and turned around.”

If Belichick does manage to hold onto his job for next season, McCourty still expects several major changes in New England’s overall operation — especially with the Patriots potentially poised to significantly overhaul their roster with a coveted first-round pick and plenty of cap space.

“I think obviously when you don’t win and you’re going to have a top-five pick, there’s gonna be changes,” McCourty noted. “Like you definitely need to do some things differently than they did this year, but I think it’s going to be really hard.

“I’m not saying it doesn’t happen, but if you asked me right now, sitting at this point, I don’t feel like you walk away from this season and say, ‘Hey if we just replace our head coach, we’ll be better.’ I think that would be a really hard statement to make.”