Insider names 'place that makes the most sense for' Bill Belichick in 2025

Stories linking former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Dallas Cowboys continue to hover over those clubs heading into December. 

For a piece published Wednesday, NFL insiders Dan Graziano and Jeremy Fowler touched upon Belichick's reported desire to return to coaching next year. 

"The place that makes the most sense for Belichick, to me, is Jacksonville, if/when it moves on from Doug Pederson," Graziano wrote. "It has a quarterback (though I admittedly don't know what Belichick thinks of Trevor Lawrence) and an owner with a track record of turning over the keys and telling his hires, 'Do what you need to do to fix this.'" 

Graziano added that Jacksonville is "a place where Belichick likely would have the level of control over the roster and offseason that he had in New England." Regardless of what Belichick does and/or doesn't think about Lawrence, the 25-year-old signed a five-year contract extension worth up to $275M with $142M fully guaranteed this past offseason and, thus, likely isn't going anywhere. 

Belichick reportedly "has a really strong relationship" with the son of Jaguars owner Shad Khan, who serves as the team's chief football strategy officer. Some previously suggested Belichick could choose Jacksonville because he and general manager Trent Baalke worked together earlier in their careers, but The Athletic's Dianna Russini said on Tuesday that "it’s anticipated [Belichick] would seek changes in the front office, particularly regarding" Baalke.

"Jacksonville makes sense, and though the roster has underachieved, it's not barren," Fowler added about the 2-9 Jaguars. "A turnaround wouldn't take long. One thing I learned in last offseason's cycle is that Belichick is open to relinquishing some level of control. At this stage of his career, he needs help with personnel. It's too big of a job." 

Graziano mentioned that he doesn't "buy" the idea that Belichick will replace Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy this winter because team owner Jerry Jones "is and always will be the GM and likes being the face of the franchise." Jones raised some eyebrows when he said Tuesday that the idea he could retain McCarthy for at least the 2025 season is "not crazy."

Perhaps Jones would instead run it back with McCarthy than hand power to Belichick, even though the Cowboys haven't played in an NFC Championship game since they won Super Bowl XXX in January 1996.