Bill Belichick landing spots: 3 best destinations for former Patriots HC in 2024
Bill Belichick is a free agent. The New England Patriots announced on Thursday that they and the veteran coach were parting ways after 24 seasons.
Under Belichick, the Patriots had established one of the most successful and most popular dynasties across professional sports. They won six Super Bowl titles in nine appearances and setting/breaking multiple records - all with former quarterback Tom Brady.
With such a long and accomplished career, it's very realistic for one assume to believe that Bill Belichick, at 71, will retire. But, as it stands, multiple teams are vying for his services, so which of them makes the most sense?
Potential Bill Belichick landing spots
#3 Atlanta Falcons
Remember when the Atlanta Falcons blew a 28-3 lead against the New England Patriots at Super Bowl LI?
The franchise seems to still have not recovered from that, falling to 10-6 and losing the NFC title and posting losing records ever since. The last three of them came under Arthur Smith, who was ousted on Monday. Maybe hiring a one-time opponent could help the Falcons in the short term.
#Update: The Falcons have signed Raheem Morris as their new head coach.
2) Los Angeles Chargers
Dec. 14, 2023 will forever be remembered as one of the most notorious days in Los Angeles Chargers history, as they suffered a historic 63-2 loss at the Las Vegas Raiders.
In the fallout of that national embarrassment, they fired Brandon Staley. Giff Smith has since been tending to the team, but Dean Spanos wants a more permanent solution, and Bill Belichick could provide that.
He would inherit a stacked defense anchored by Pro Bowl linebackers Khalil Mack, Joey Bosa and Eric Kendricks and a strong offense led by Pro Bowl quarterback Justin Herbert.
#Update: The Chargers have signed Jim Harbaugh as their new head coach.
1) Washington Commanders
"Take command:" new owner Josh Harris recently took the Washington Commanders' slogan to heart, firing Ron Rivera after four seasons in sevice.
It represented the first step of his mission to totally erase any and all traces of the much-maligned Dan Snyder's tenure, and he's certainly looking to go higher.
Bill Belichick is one who could instill some newfound discipline into as militarily inspired a franchise as the Commanders, who seemed to lose it in 2023 after a surprisingly strong showing in their first season under that moniker.
Belichick's two main tasks, if he arrives in Landover, will be to reorganize a defense hit hard by the midseason departures of defensive ends Chase Young and Montez Sweat and reconstitute an offense under a top quarterback prospect.