The folks from NFL Network have descended on Gillette Stadium for Thursday night’s game between the Jets and the Patriots. And the Patriots, who own 1/32nd of NFL Network, have thrown, well, themselves a bone.
Both Ian Rapoport and Mike Silver of NFL Network have reported from the scene that Patriots coach Bill Belichick remains under contract beyond 2013, the year in which it was assumed his contract would expire.
The fact that they’re both reporting the same thing on the same night the Pats are hosting a game in Foxboro strongly suggests that the Pats have opted to pull the curtain back for their guest-employees. A bit.
All we know is that Belichick is under contract beyond 2013. We don’t know how long he’s under contract. And we’ll never know how much he’ll make.
What we can assume is that the 61-year-old Belichick will coach as long as he can. While the seat eventually could heat up if another franchise quarterback doesn’t emerge after Tom Brady retires, there are plenty of bad NFL teams that would take a chance on Belichick. So he’ll be able to coach as long as he wants, and we’ve got a feeling he’ll die with his hoodie on.