Beat writer shares if Patriots could fire Bill Belichick after Colts game

Beat writer Chris Mason of MassLive believes New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft will stick with legendary head coach Bill Belichick even if the club falls to 2-8 on the season via a loss to the 4-5 Indianapolis Colts in Germany this Sunday. 

"I don’t see Robert Kraft firing Bill Belichick midseason at all," Mason wrote for a mailbag published on Friday. "I know the Patriots coach himself has never been nostalgic with players when their productivity declines, but Kraft has six Super Bowl banners flying in his stadium because of the work Belichick did alongside Tom Brady. That buys the 71-year-old coach enough goodwill to finish the season, regardless of what transpires the rest of the way."

Patriots insider Ben Volin of the Boston Globe raised plenty of eyebrows throughout the NFL community when he wrote last week that "there’s a chance the Krafts could [part ways with Belichick] in the bye week and install Jerod Mayo as the interim coach for the final seven games" if New England fell to the Washington Commanders last Sunday and followed that with a loss against Indianapolis. Washington defeated New England 20-17.

Volin noted that "one source close to Belichick believes" the multi-year contract extension the coach reportedly signed this past offseason only runs through the 2024 campaign. Despite that and the fact that Belichick may or may not be planning a potential winter move to a different franchise, Mason thinks a firing could result in "an unnecessarily messy situation" for a club that's likely just playing out the rest of a disappointing season. 

"What message does it send to the rest of the league if Patriots ownership kicks the greatest head coach in franchise history out discourteously? We hear all the time that the Krafts care about optics," Mason added. "How would it look telling Belichick to find his own way home from Europe?"

Sources close to the Patriots seemingly spent portions of the midweek tossing blame toward quarterback Mac Jones for struggles he and the offense endured over the season's first half. As bad as things are in Patriots-land this fall, logic suggests Belichick has earned better than a midseason pink slip unless he and Kraft mutually decide that a change announced on Monday morning is what's best for everyone involved.