Patriots 2023 Season

[Goldstar88]

Fair or foul?

Former Pro Bowler asks whether Bill Belichick is worth his salary amid ‘downhill spiral’
"You created the dynasty in New England and you deserved to be the highest-paid back then. But, now. We're talking about now."

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick makes $20 million per year and is the highest-paid coach in the NFL, according to Sportico.

It’s pretty obvious that paying Belichick was worth it while the Patriots won six Super Bowls with Tom Brady as quarterback. Belichick is the NFL’s all-time leader in playoff wins, and he’s closing in on Don Shula’s record for most wins overall by a coach.

But, is Belichick worth his massive reported salary now that the Patriots have gone a so-so 25-25 over the past three seasons without Tom Brady under center? Former Patriots cornerback Asante Samuel posed the question on Twitter on Friday.

“Is Bill Belichick worth $20 million per year right now?” Samuel asked. “Because it’s been three years without Tom Brady and we know his success-rate is not good at all.”

Belichick is 329-165 over 28 seasons as an NFL head coach. However, he is 79-88 in games where someone other than Tom Brady has been the starting quarterback.

“And he’s making $20 million and you can’t even look up the contract to see when it expires. These are the types of situations we are dealing with when we’re dealing with Belichick. He can keep all his secrets and he can do all these good things for him, but when it’s time for other people to get good things done for them … he doesn’t like to answer a lot of questions, now you see why. He’s got a lot of secrets people don’t know about.”

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

Does Samuel have some sort of vendetta against Belichick?

[Moranis]

Of course it is fair. It is also fair to ask the same question about Pop now that he doesn't have Duncan.  You have to win in the NFL and Bill is a loser without Brady.  He has some leeway of course because he won so much with Brady, but at some point soon he needs to start winning without him.

[tazzmaniac]

I pay little attention to the NFL anymore other than to see how Bama players are doing.  However isn't Belichick also the GM so that 20M would cover both jobs?  7-9, 10-7 and 8-9 is not bad after losing Brady albeit the NFL is geared towards parity and mediocrity. 

[green_bballers13]

Of course it is fair. It is also fair to ask the same question about Pop now that he doesn't have Duncan.  You have to win in the NFL and Bill is a loser without Brady.  He has some leeway of course because he won so much with Brady, but at some point soon he needs to start winning without him.

Yes it is fair. Bill is definitely hurting his legacy right now.

Was it fair to ask Asante Samuel, the most outspoken critic of Bill Belichick over the last 10 years? Sure. If the rest of the media wants to kiss Bill's footballs, I think it's fair to hear the other side. Especially a former player. I'm convinced Malcolm Butler signed some type of non-disclosure agreement to not reveal what happened before the Philly Super Bowl. Bill has definitely made some enemies, including Ted Johnson and Gronk. He's a jerk (much like Parcells), so it doesn't surprise me that people want to take shots at him.

I personally wouldn't want to have a relationship with the guy (from what I've seen- I've only met him once in person).

Would I want him to run my team? Absolutely. Do I think the league has passed him by? Absolutely. He's 71 years old. Marv Levy retired at 72, and I thought he was a fossil.

I'm ready for the next coach/GM to take this team into the future. All that being said, I've never seen a better football coach. I see no reasons to take shots at him for the past.

I think it's fair to criticize the last 3 years. He's obviously not worth $20m per year, much like Jeter wasn't worth his final contract. This happens a decent amount in sports. At least his number doesn't count against the cap.

[green_bballers13]

I pay little attention to the NFL anymore other than to see how Bama players are doing.  However isn't Belichick also the GM so that 20M would cover both jobs?  7-9, 10-7 and 8-9 is not bad after losing Brady albeit the NFL is geared towards parity and mediocrity.

While it's tough to stomach these seasons after their unprecedented run, I agree. Last year's team was brutal. They could have won 3 games and no one would have been surprised given their talent level. There were some that thought this was a 6 win team at best.

[Goldstar88]

I pay little attention to the NFL anymore other than to see how Bama players are doing.  However isn't Belichick also the GM so that 20M would cover both jobs?  7-9, 10-7 and 8-9 is not bad after losing Brady albeit the NFL is geared towards parity and mediocrity.

One winning season in the last 3 isn’t bad? Since when...

[A Future of Stevens]

I'm fine with where the franchise is at. I think this years team has more talent than last years team. We have had a profound dearth of talent since Brady left. I think they have been chipping away at that year over year.
Until we have the answer at QB, this is all kind of a wash. Is Mac that guy? Probably not, but who knows.
I like where the Patriots defense is headed. The offensive line and receiving talent terrifies me. Rhamondre is a beast while we have him.

[Neurotic Guy]

I pay little attention to the NFL anymore other than to see how Bama players are doing.  However isn't Belichick also the GM so that 20M would cover both jobs?  7-9, 10-7 and 8-9 is not bad after losing Brady albeit the NFL is geared towards parity and mediocrity.

While it's tough to stomach these seasons after their unprecedented run, I agree. Last year's team was brutal. They could have won 3 games and no one would have been surprised given their talent level. There were some that thought this was a 6 win team at best.

Given the legacy I have to wonder why he’d pass up Hopkins and why he’d go into this season not having addressed the O-line. Seems like at least one or the other - get the available #1 receiver or trade some draft capital to protect Mac.  Really baffling as this team doesn’t look too bad if they can give Mac time to throw. Hopkins would have put the receiving corps over the top - would have been a very good crew instead of a decent one.

[jambr380]

Like Pop, he deserves a lifetime appointment at a big salary. People may not like it, but the team is pretty much the best of all-time and that is due to Bill. If we have to suffer a few average years because he is holding on too long, oh well, we'll survive.

On an unrelated note, I literally read 'pro bowler' as meaning 'professional bowler' and wondered why anybody would care what somebody from the bowling world thinks about BB's salary.

[Neurotic Guy]

Like Pop, he deserves a lifetime appointment at a big salary. People may not like it, but the team is pretty much the best of all-time and that is due to Bill. If we have to suffer a few average years because he is holding on too long, oh well, we'll survive.

On an unrelated note, I literally read 'pro bowler' as meaning 'professional bowler' and wondered why anybody would care what somebody from the bowling world thinks about BB's salary.

I agree.  Also, isn't this a legit "it's not my money" situation?  There's no salary cap implications and I'm not worried about the Krafts.   

[Goldstar88]

Like Pop, he deserves a lifetime appointment at a big salary. People may not like it, but the team is pretty much the best of all-time and that is due to Bill. If we have to suffer a few average years because he is holding on too long, oh well, we'll survive.

On an unrelated note, I literally read 'pro bowler' as meaning 'professional bowler' and wondered why anybody would care what somebody from the bowling world thinks about BB's salary.

I’m not sure this is true. Belichick didn’t have any success before Brady and he hasn’t had any success after. If Tom was coached by Andy Reid for 20 years instead of Bill, I think the results would have been similar.

Will be interesting to see what Kraft decides to do if the Pats don’t make the playoffs again this year.

[SparzWizard]

Like Pop, he deserves a lifetime appointment at a big salary. People may not like it, but the team is pretty much the best of all-time and that is due to Bill. If we have to suffer a few average years because he is holding on too long, oh well, we'll survive.

On an unrelated note, I literally read 'pro bowler' as meaning 'professional bowler' and wondered why anybody would care what somebody from the bowling world thinks about BB's salary.

I’m not sure this is true. Belichick didn’t have any success before Brady and he hasn’t had any success after. If Tom was coached by Andy Reid for 20 years instead of Bill, I think the results would have been similar.

Will be interesting to see what Kraft decides to do if the Pats don’t make the playoffs again this year.

Yeah I didn't understand that line...this team is the best of all-time because of Bill? What the. Those 6 Superbowl titles if not for Brady would not have happened. You've seen them post-Brady days...missed playoffs, one and done, fumbled away the season the next year. Brady even took the Bucs to a Superbowl in his first year there-- he had to go through a stout Washington defense on the road, play at Drew Brees' home, and then play at Aaron Rodger's Frozen Tundra before facing Patrick Mahomes in the SB.

Kraft is getting impatient, he just might pull the plug on Bill after this season if they miss the postseason. Bill pretty much soured on me after he just let Brady walk in 2020 and not pay him.

[celticsclay]

It’s super weird to read people thinking they know enough about bill and Brady to comment on his legacy but seemingly are completely in the dark that the defense won multiple super bowls. Brady was average at best against the rams the first time and scored a whopping touchdown the second rams Super Bowl. Like seriously stop

If you are young read this: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Bowl_XXXVI

This game would have been win with Ryan leaf and Brady had similar stats to what leaf or zolack would have done. Have some knowledge of the game

[jambr380]

It’s super weird to read people thinking they know enough about bill and Brady to comment on his legacy but seemingly are completely in the dark that the defense won multiple super bowls. Brady was average at best against the rams the first time and scored a whopping touchdown the second rams Super Bowl. Like seriously stop

If you are young read this: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Bowl_XXXVI

This game would have been win with Ryan leaf and Brady had similar stats to what leaf or zolack would have done. Have some knowledge of the game

Yeah, it's gotten to the point where people insinuate that BB was holding the team back. It's like, take out these 20 years in the middle of a guy's career and ackshually he is just mid.

They both helped build each other's legacy and that is totally okay.