Insiders discuss Patriots' Bill Belichick, Robert Kraft situation

New England Patriots insider Mark Daniels of MassLive suggested the recent report that claimed team owner Robert Kraft hasn't yet discussed the future beyond Week 18 with head coach Bill Belichick says plenty about how Kraft views Belichick.

"The fact that Robert Kraft hasn’t talked to him about his future tells me that Bill Belichick is about to be fired/they’ll do something like a mutual parting of the ways," Daniels said during the latest edition of the "Eye On Foxborough" podcast, per Lauren Campbell of MassLive. "But really he’s going to be fired. It’s interesting because you have Woody Johnson, the [New York Jets] owner, who came up publicly and said that Robert Saleh will be back next year. And that’s something an owner historically does around this time of the year." 

Belichick reportedly has "expressed doubt" about his New England future with Patriots staff members, but some believe Kraft simply hasn't made a final call about the 71-year-old. To Belichick's credit, a Patriots team that's eliminated from postseason contention has won two of its past three games to improve from 2-10 to 4-11. 

"So the fact that, one, Kraft hasn’t met with Bill about it tells me he’s done with Bill," Daniels added. "And two, the fact that Bill Belichick has been telling other coaches on the coaching staff that he has a feeling this is the end, who better than Bill Belichick to actually know, right?" 

Meanwhile, fellow Patriots reporter Chris Mason of MassLive said during the podcast that "the silence from the Krafts" regarding Belichick's job status "speaks volumes." 

Belichick is under contract through the 2024 season and has been linked in reports with the Los Angeles Chargers, Dallas Cowboys and Chicago Bears (among other teams). Perhaps the six-time Super Bowl champion head coach could impress Kraft by leading the Patriots to wins over the Buffalo Bills and New York Jets across the final two weekends of what became a lost season for New England.