This AFC team is reportedly a ‘potential destination’ for Bill Belichick

"That coach is available, he’s won a few Super Bowls. His name is Bill Belichick.”

Bill Belichick is still looking for a coaching gig in 2025. Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff

November 18, 2024

2 minutes to read

If Bill Belichick is adamant about returning to coaching in 2025, he should have no shortage of appealing options.

The Saints already have a vacancy after firing head coach Dennis Allen earlier this month. Struggling teams like the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys could also make moves in the coming months.

But The Athletic’s Dianna Russini has tabbed another potential fit for the longtime Patriots head coach: the Jacksonville Jaguars.

“As we wait to find out what the Jaguars do next, keep in mind Bill Belichick wants to be a head coach again and the Jaguars should be viewed as a potential destination,” Russini posted on X Monday morning. “I’m told it’s highly unlikely that a partnership with GM Trent Baalke would take place, per sources.”

The Jaguars have again underperformed this year with a 2-9 record, with Doug Pederson’s days likely numbered after Jacksonville was walloped on Sunday by the Lions, 52-6.

Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio echoed a similar sentiment in terms of Belichick’s potential fit with Jacksonville, although he acknowledged that it could be more of a collaborative partnership with Baalke moving forward.

“I’ve talked to several people throughout the league and there’s a belief in some circles that he could potentially survive into next year as part of a package deal that would reunite him with someone he worked with back in 1998-99 with the New York Jets,” Florio said on NBC Sunday night. “That coach is available, he’s won a few Super Bowls. His name is Bill Belichick.”

While Belichick has a history with Baalke, it remains to be seen just how receptive the longtime head coach would be to working with another GM after getting plenty of control over the Patriots’ roster during his 24 seasons in Foxborough.

Russini said in a separate report on Saturday that Belichick is looking to land with a team in 2025 that will give him plenty of freedom to augment the roster as he sees fit.

“In 24 seasons with the Patriots, Belichick helped deliver six Super Bowl titles, nine conference championships, 17 division crowns and 30 playoff wins,” Russini wrote in The Athletic alongside Lauren Merola. “That prosperity earned Belichick the trust of ownership and gave him the authority to operate with little oversight. He wants as much in his next post, but his past freedoms will be hard to come by.”

Considering that Jerry Jones likely isn’t going to cede control of the Cowboys roster, it seems unlikely that Belichick would view Dallas as a top destination, even with the amount of talent on their roster.

The Jaguars may not field a contender roster in 2025. But Jacksonville could add some talent with a top pick in the upcoming draft. Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer noted back in September that Belichick already has a good rapport with Jacksonville’s ownership group.

“Tony Khan [son of Jaguars owner Shad Khan] has a real strong relationship with Belichick to the point where, when they hired Doug Marrone full time when they removed the interim tag in 2017, that was largely on the advice of Bill Belichick to do it,” Breer said on “The Dan Patrick Show.”

“I just wonder if that’s not rattling around in the heads of ownership there now especially when you’re building a new stadium. Not a new stadium, but you’re renovating your stadium and now you’ve got sponsorships to sell, you’ve got suites to sell, all of that stuff.”