Bedard: Belichick Could be Facing Must Win vs Cardinals

It’s long been assumed that Bill Belichick’s historic tenure with the New England Patriots would end when Belichick decides he’s had his football fill and walks away from the game for good.

But according to NFL insider Greg Bedard, Belichick’s future in Foxboro may be on shaky ground.

On the Greg Bedard Patriots Podcast, Bedard hinted that there could be a lot riding on Monday’s night’s game against the Cardinals in Arizona for Belichick.

“In discussions with people around this team, including some very good sources of mine who have never steered me wrong, have basically indicated that this Cardinals game on Monday night is among if not the most important game of Belichick’s career post Tom Brady.” Bedard said.” If the Patriots don’t win this game, then I think there is a serious question about whether Belichick is the future head coach of this team.

Bedard says part of the concern from Owner Robert Kraft revolves around the regression of second year, and would be franchise quarterback Mac Jones. Jones play has slipped since his successful rookie campaign and some of that can be attributed to the coaches and talent Belichick has surrounded Jones with.

“We talked about this in October,” Bedard told co-host Nick Cattles. “Belichick had to get this thing with [Mac Jones] back on track for the rest of the season because the Kraft’s were watching.”

Bedard wrote about Belichick’s future on Boston Sports Journal as well. The veteran NFL Columnist believes there are three factors that could jeopardize Belichick’s future in New England.

Belichick has, to this point, taken three major losses in the eyes of the Krafts: the pushing out of Tom Brady, not getting close to good enough production from the record 2021 free agency class (which was needed due to Belichick’s poor drafting), and the regression of a possible young franchise QB in Mac Jones. All three are the direct result of Belichick’s decisions and have led the team to the point no one thought was possible — two losing seasons in three years.

Bedard also believes that there are several potential replacement options for Belichick that could be available this offseason, including former Saints head coach Sean Flores as well as former Dolphins head coach and Patriots assistant Brian Flores.