Longtime NFL Insider Sounds Off on Belichick, UNC’s Patriots Ban

When asked about Belichick banning his scouts in a press conference at Gillette Stadium, Vrabel said, “That’s an individual choice.”

• “We’ll cross that bridge when we start looking at players,” Vrabel continued. “I’m going to focus on our football team. That’s their prerogative, to make the decisions they feel are best for them. And we’ll have to find other ways to get the information for any players that we want to look at North Carolina.”

Mike Florio, a longtime NFL writer for ProFootballTalk.com, shared his thoughts on the matter during his television show, PFT Live on Peacock. Florio didn’t hold back, calling Belichick’s move shortsighted and damaging not only to his reputation but also to the players he’s supposed to be helping prepare for the NFL.

• "Nobody else is looking at this and saying it's a good idea," Florio said. "It's idiotic. It doesn't help your players. First and foremost, the idea is you bring the players to school. You maximize their opportunity to go to the NFL. It doesn't matter what team they go to. They want to get drafted as high as they can."

Not only is it a bad look, but the consequences could be much more severe than anyone would expect.

Is This A Good Look?

To many nationally, it’s just another chapter in Belichick’s increasingly petty back-and-forth with the organization that parted ways with him.

The problem, though, is that this isn’t just about Belichick versus Kraft. By closing off access to one NFL team, Belichick may be doing more harm to his players than anyone else.

• "If you exclude the Patriots from the process of evaluating the players, you are hurting the kids," Florio said. "There is no benefit to the program. There is no benefit to the kids in keeping the Patriot Scouts out. This is just Bill Belichick having some tiny little dopamine rush that comes from sticking it to Robert Kraft. And Robert Kraft's not the one trying to show up and scout players. These are working folks."

Belichick’s stance gives Belichick a chance to settle old scores with New England, but in practice, it punishes the wrong people. Patriots scouts aren’t power brokers or rivals—they’re employees tasked with evaluating talent, just like every other team’s representatives. Not only that, a good bit of them are on the lower levels of pay of the organization.

By shutting them out, Belichick isn’t hurting Kraft at all; he’s hurting the prospects on his own roster who need as many eyes on them as possible before the draft. Also, it could damage your reputation as the “33rd NFL team.”

• "They're trying to do their jobs," Florio said. "Bill, you know a thing or two about doing your job. You're not letting these people do their jobs. So it really is an embarrassment for the North Carolina program. It is beneath Bill Belichick, although maybe it isn't. Maybe we're learning systematically that there are many things that are not beneath Bill Belichick. It's a horrible look, and he needs to change his mind on this. He needs to find a way to get himself out of the corner he's painted into."

Could UNC Face Legal Trouble?

According to Florio, it's a possibility and the New England Patriots have a solid case.

• "The Patriots could sue him for this, and I don't know that they will," Florio said. I don't know that they should have to. One letter, if they send it, should be enough to get Bill Belichick to relent. One conversation with the North Carolina General Counsel should be enough to get him to relent. "

Florio began ProFootballTalk.com while practicing labor law, an area in which he worked for 18 years. That background gives him a unique perspective on the potential ramifications of Belichick’s decision at North Carolina.

According to Florio, the Tar Heels could be staring at a legal battle if the Patriots organization wanted to push the matter, since a state-run university cannot haphazardly single out an NFL team for exclusion without running afoul of constitutional protections.

• "They are in violation of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution if they single out one entity for different treatment because they are a state organization," Florio said. They are owned and operated by the state. They have obligations that are different than a private company, which can be as vindictive and petty as it wants because one of the key employees doesn't like this person or that person. That's fair game when it's privately owned. When it's publicly owned, it's different."