Insider explains why Bill Belichick could accept Falcons job

The Atlanta Falcons confirmed Monday they completed an interview with Bill Belichick regarding their head coach position. 

ESPN's Jeremy Fowler explained during a Tuesday "SportsCenter" segment why Belichick may accept the Atlanta job even though other noteworthy opportunities could be available to him this winter. 

"We were hearing for a while that the Falcons were interested and so now I'm hearing that there is mutual interest between the Falcons and Belichick," Fowler said, as shared by Erin Walsh of Bleacher Report. "To what extent? Still unclear. But enough for them to meet in person with owner Arthur Blank talking to Belichick, hashing out what their vision might be for that program for a team that's really a quarterback away. I was told from the beginning that Belichick would likely target talented, yet underachieving teams. Atlanta probably falls in that category."

It seems likely the Falcons will look for an upgrade at quarterback after former Atlanta head coach Arthur Smith benched 2022 third-round draft pick Desmond Ridder for a time this season. Interestingly, Fowler mentioned in an article published Tuesday that some league executives believe the Falcons could be interested in veteran Russell Wilson assuming the Denver Broncos cut the one-time Super Bowl champion this coming offseason. 

Atlanta holds the eighth overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft and could package that selection with other assets to either trade up in the draft order or acquire a signal-caller such as Justin Fields of the Chicago Bears. 

Belichick also continues to be linked with the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles even though those clubs didn't have head coach openings as of late Tuesday afternoon. Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk wrote on Tuesday morning that Blank could "break the bank and/or give Belichick full control of the" Falcons to convince the six-time Super Bowl champion head coach to join a franchise that posted a 7-10 record this season instead of a team that lost in the wild-card round of the ongoing postseason tournament.