Three Potential Landing Spots For Bill Belichick

It actually happened. The New England Patriots and Bill Belichick are parting ways. The news dropped this morning and shook the NFL world, even if it wasn't exactly out of left field.

There will be much interest around the league in seeing how the Pats move on from the Belichick era and embark upon the impossible task of replacing the greatest coach of all time. But the follow-up report is of much more immediate interest to everybody outside the greater New England-- the 71-year-old is not done coaching. Not yet.

As difficult as it is to conjure an image of Belichick on a sideline in anything other than a ratty Patriots hoodie, it seems like that will be the new reality starting next season. He could definitely make a ton of money if he were to transition to television (and might even be a massive hit, if his College GameDay appearance was any indication) but for now Belichick's sights are set on coaching next year.

Pretty much every team without a head coach will be interested. They'd be remiss not to at least check in; a coach of Belichick's caliber never hits the free agent market like this. But the best fit for the longtime Patriots mogul is a different matter entirely. It seems like Belichick wants to keep coaching in order to pass Don Shula on the all-time head coaching wins list-- he is currently sitting at 333 career victories, 14 behind Shula's 347. Through that lens, it seems quite unlikely Belichick would sign on with a rebuilding squad. Furthermore, we do not know if he still wants full personnel control or if he'll cede that duty. Belichick also has an immense respect for football history and it wouldn't be out of the question for him to prioritize working for a franchise with a rich past of football success rather than attempting to kickstart building a team's prestige the way he did in New England all those decades ago.

A lot of factors, most of them unknown at the moment. But we can still give an early swing at identifying the best possible landing spots for Belichick. Here are a few possibilities.

Dallas Cowboys

The Cowboys check nearly every box we can imagine for Belichick. One of the league's most storied franchises? Yep. A defense ready to dominate? For sure. An offense that needs only a steady hand to produce at an above-average level? Absolutely. Jerry Jones would never let Belichick have sole control of the roster but he'd probably let him have a say, a blurring of lines in the front office that could only really happen in Dallas.

The obvious issue is that Mike McCarthy is still employed as head coach of the Cowboys. But the noise concerning his job status has been bizarrely loud for a guy who just led his team to a divisional title and the second-best record in the NFC. It seems to be an accepted fact that if McCarthy bows out of the playoffs early and/or in embarrassing fashion, he's gone. Which feels crazy but it's impossible to ignore the smoke, especially when Jones himself is fanning the flames by refusing to commit to McCarthy's future ahead of the postseason. If he gets fired then the Cowboys are almost certain to be Belichick's next destination.

Atlanta Falcons

The Falcons are not nearly as neat a new home for Belichick as Dallas, but they have been constantly connected with his name since they fired Arthur Smith at 12:01am on Black Monday. Arthur Blank really wants a big-name head coach after whiffing on multiple hires following the 2016 Super Bowl collapse and Belichick definitely qualifies. As far as the roster goes, it's arguably the best among the head coaching jobs actually available. They don't have a quarterback, which Belichick now knows is quite the problem, but they have a tailor-made elite offense otherwise with all the blue-chip talent on that side of the ball. The defense has enough pieces that a great defensive coach, like Belichick, could get it into shape quickly. There are a lot of points in Atlanta's favor here, especially since Blank would likely cut a blank (bah-dum-tiss) check to make this happen.

But while the team has talent there is zero guarantee they can win games at a pace Belichick finds acceptable without a starting-caliber quarterback. Even in the NFC South. Given there are teams out there with better quarterbacks who would be equally interested in Belichick, it's hard to say the Falcons' other advantages would put them ahead. But, at the moment, their interest is very real and therefore impossible to ignore.

Washington Commanders

The Commanders have also been linked to Belichick way before he ended up leaving New England and therefore earn their spot on this list. The theories that Washington would trade for Belichick are obviously dead in the water now but they still make sense as a new home. The Commanders are such a blank slate that they're the only team where Belichick could come close to copying his Patriots program one-to-one. They haven't hired a new GM yet so he could get full control of the roster, just like in New England.

The entire roster has maybe four or five keepers; otherwise, the rest can go, and Belichick can bring in his preferred guys. The entire organization is extremely desperate for a cultural reset, leaving the path wide-open for Belichick to imprint a Patriots Way, Commanders-style. Ownership is also inclined to pony up whatever money and privileges he may want, given how badly they want to turn this team around after the dark Daniel Snyder years.

Of the teams on this list, though, Washington has by far the weakest roster. They do have the No. 2 overall pick in the draft, which means they have a guaranteed shot at one of the two elite quarterback prospects in this year's pool. So a quick turnaround isn't out of the question. But it'll take work and they play in one of football's toughest division. It basically comes down to this: if Belichick wants to be the same guy he was in New England for 20 years, the Commanders are his best bet. But if he wants to win as many games as he can, as quickly as possible, then he'll be forced to look elsewhere.