Patriots have reportedly already decided to move on from coach Bill Belichick in 2024

Bill Belichick’s time with the New England Patriots is apparently coming to an end regardless of how the rest of the season plays out.

The Patriots, according to NBC Sports Boston's Tom Curran, have already decided to move on from the longtime coach after the end of the season. That decision was apparently made after the Patriots fell to the Indianapolis Colts in Germany on Nov. 12.

"When they came out of Germany, conversations I had that week made it very clear that a decision was made," Curran said on Monday. "They were going to play out the string, and at the end of the year there would be a parting of the ways, for a variety of reasons … You don't fire Bill Belichick during the season. It's just not going to happen."

Belichick has already solidified himself as one of the best coaches in the history of the NFL. He was first hired in New England in 2000 after a five-year run in Cleveland, and he quickly turned the Patriots into one of the best dynasties the sport has ever seen. Alongside quarterback Tom Brady, Belichick led the Patriots to six Super Bowl wins and mounted an incredible 17-season run with double-digit wins. The team has missed the playoffs just five times under his watch, and made it to nine different Super Bowls.

Since Brady left, however, it’s been a very different story with the Patriots. The Patriots have been to the playoffs just once since Brady left for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2020, though they fell in the wild card round in the 2021 season. Brady’s replacement, Mac Jones, has struggled at quarterback, too. He’s been benched multiple times this season already in favor of Bailey Zappe.

The Patriots are just 3-10 headed into Sunday’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs, which has them in last in the AFC East. They’ve lost several bad blowout games already this year — a 38-3 loss to the Dallas Cowboys, a 34-0 loss to the New Orleans Saints — and they’re one of just two teams in the league that is already eliminated from the playoffs. So even if they were to win out, that would bring the team to just 7-10.

The bright side to this losing season for the Patriots is that they’re currently slated to receive the No. 2 pick in the NFL Draft next spring. If Curran’s report is to be believed, though, owner Robert Kraft will have somebody else calling the shots in an effort to rebuild the Patriots’ dynasty.