My theory that Belichick is planning on retiring...

Bill Belichick has said many times that he didn't want to end up like Marv Levy and coach into his 70's. He's currently 65 years old. Brady has said he plans on playing for 5+ years. Conventional thinking has always been that Bill will ride the Brady train until the wheels fall off.

The main reason revolves around how Belichicks' legacy would be impacted if he were to step down and Brady went on to win another Super Bowl with a different HC. The debate always boils down to: who made who? Did Walsh make Montana, or did Joe cool make Walsh? Did Holmgren make Favre, or if it wasn't for the boy from Mississippi would Holmgren just been a footnote in Packers history?

IMHO legacy considerations are way more important to these legends than the average NFL fan realizes. All that being said, Belichick has 10 Super Bowl appearances as a Coordinator and HC, and he is 7-3. He could walk away today and leave a legacy as the greatest of all time. However, if he had hung it up in February of 17' he would have handed McDaniels (or Patricia) a defending champion roster with a ton of savvy vets including the greatest QB of all time. No question that Brady and those coaches would want to prove they could do it on their own. And that certainly takes the luster off of Bill's legacy if they succeeded.

So Bill stuck around for the upcoming season. But he knows what anyone who knows football knows... Brady has maybe one more elite season left. I don't care what fancy workout and diet regimens he's on.... when a QB hits the wall it happens fast and hard. There's a chance that Brady's 17' will mimic Manning's 15' and there's a HUGE chance that even if he does play at a high level this year 2018 will be his swan song.

That being considered, Belichick is the ultimate chess player. He's planning many moves ahead. I think the plan is to try to land his sixth championship as a HC, a back to back repeat, and ride off into the sunset. He will hand his successor a declining QB and some massive shoes to fill.

The thing that convinced me he isn't planning on being around past 2017 is that he didn't trade Garoppolo. He could have landed a top 10 draft pick this year by giving up an unproven, overhyped back up QB. No one passes on that unless they are going all in for one final season. He also was ultra aggressive in free agency including giving up premium money for Gilmore out of Buffalo. The Pats NEVER pay retail for any player... they also don't usually trade away a 1st round pick for a player they expect to play a very specific role (Cooks: speedy WR to stretch the field).

I think he is all in this year and it was more important to him to have Jimmy G to be an insurance policy because this is his 'last rodeo' as Peyton would say.

-J. Wagner