It's now no secret that Las Vegas Raiders minority owner Tom Brady had at least one conversation with current North Carolina head coach Bill Belichick during a process that ended with the Raiders hiring Pete Carroll to be their next head coach.
On Wednesday, NFL insider Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk touched upon whether or not Brady wanted Belichick, his former coach when both were with the New England Patriots, over Carroll.
"Remember when it was leaked that multiple teams had asked Belichick whether he would be open to leaving North Carolina and returning to the NFL, with the twist that he’d spoken directly to Raiders minority owner/majority influence Tom Brady? Brady had, we were told, zero interest in hiring Belichick," Florio explained. "The gesture, we were told, was a favor to Belichick in an effort to try to pull the rip cord on a potential NFL market for his services."
Tar Heels football general manager Michael Lombardi insisted that Brady simply called Belichick "for advice and counsel." Lombardi also repeatedly said before Belichick signed his UNC contract that the six-time Super Bowl champion head coach was "committed" to the university's football program.
Nevertheless, individuals such as Florio remain convinced that Belichick took the North Carolina gig only because NFL teams "collectively refused to offer him a head-coaching job through two hiring cycles." Meanwhile, numerous reports indicated Brady wanted former Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson to be Las Vegas' next head coach before Johnson accepted the Chicago Bears job. While the Bears have 2024 No. 1 overall draft pick Caleb Williams as their starting quarterback, the Raiders currently have no promising prospect on their roster.
"He can still leave," Florio added about Belichick. "Why did he ask for a buyout that would let him go before June 1, 2025, for $10M? Why did he ask for the buyout to drop to $1M after June 1? That term didn’t spontaneously write itself. Belichick wanted it. And he got it. And when he finally signed the contract, it was still there."
Belichick is just 15 wins away from breaking Don Shula's NFL record for career victories earned by a head coach (regular season and postseason combined). That fact coupled with the terms of his buyout will likely cause rumors about the living legend's future to resurface by the time Christmas Day 2025 comes around.
