He's 70. I'm half-expecting him to retire this offseason and hand the reins to McDaniels or his son Steven. If he doesn't do that and the Patriots don't make the playoffs next year, I'd expect the same to happen then. Basically, I don't see a 70-year-old HC wanting to dive into a new 3-year rebuild project headfirst, even if he is Belichick.

Also worth remembering: he was pretty bad as coach of the Browns, and was well on his way to getting fired by the Patriots before Drew Bledsoe's torso blew up.

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