Bill Belichick has two common adages. The New England Patriots are always doing “what’s best for the team” and they’re always doing “what’s best to win the game.” But what if those two goals conflict, now that the Patriots are 2-5 in 2020? What if it’s best for the team to start losing games?
They’re not making the playoffs, let alone the Super Bowl. Belichick has to accept his fate for 2020: irrelevance. He has to look at his roster and see what it is: porous. And he has to see his best means of turning things around: the 2021 offseason. Belichick should shoot to pick high in the NFL draft, which should boast a number of elite draft prospects at quarterback, with Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence, Ohio State’s Justin Fields and North Dakota State’s Trey Lance, among others. The Patriots already have a huge amount of cap space for free agency, which is a tremendous advantage, with roughly half of the NFL projected to be over the cap, if it falls like many expect it to. It’s time for the Patriots to try to move up the draft board, too.
So the Patriots need to stop winning games in 2020.
Hot take! Sacrilege! Madness! Clickbait!
Though impossible to consider in New England, tanking is the common recourse for other struggling teams. Tanking may run contrary to everything Belichick stands for. It’s like telling the coach not to wear his hoodie, not to mutter sarcastically at inquisitive reporters, not to bully rookie quarterbacks. (He’s never lost to one.) Belichick is synonymous with winning — losing isn’t going to come naturally to him.
The biggest part of a rebuild will be replacing Tom Brady. You may have heard: finding a quarterback can be difficult in the NFL. Belichick told reporters after the game that he’s committed to Cam Newton this year.
“Cam’s our quarterback. Been that way all year,” Belichick said postgame.
But what about in 2021? Perhaps Belichick is trying to decide whether he should commit to Newton, who is playing on a one-year contract, in the future by spending more time with him at the helm of the offense. That could also mean that Jarrett Stidham, a 2019 fourth-round draft pick, is not in line to be a big part of New England’s future plans. It would make sense, honestly, with Stidham botching every huge opportunity, starting with his failed attempt at winning the quarterback job in training camp and continuing with his lackluster efforts in the fourth quarters of two games this year.
But at the trade deadline, the Patriots should be thinking about 2021, even if that means trading Stephon Gilmore, J.C. Jackson or Joe Thuney. And in the Patriots’ two matchup against the Jets, the Patriots should be thinking for 2021. It’s time for Belichick to do what he’s never had tried to do: lose.
[vertical-gallery id=97277]