Insider echoes idea of possible career change for Patriots' Bill Belichick

New England Patriots insider Tom E. Curran of NBC Sports Boston is among those who think Patriots head coach Bill Belichick could consider taking a year off from coaching to work as an NFL studio or in-game analyst with a network such as Fox, NBC or CBS. 

Per Ricky Doyle of NESN, Curran explained during an on-air segment that Fox already employs former Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski and is about to make retired quarterback Tom Brady its lead NFL analyst beginning next season. New England greats Devin McCourty and Rodney Harrison serve as analysts for NBC. Meanwhile, Andrew Marchand of the New York Post reported last week that CBS could soon part ways with "The NFL Today" personalities James Brown, Boomer Esiason, Bill Cowher and Phil Simms. 

It remains unclear if Patriots owner Robert Kraft and team president Jonathan Kraft will either trade or fire Belichick this winter. The six-time Super Bowl champion head coach has been linked in reports with the Atlanta Falcons, Dallas Cowboys, Washington Commanders, Carolina Panthers, Chicago Bears, Los Angeles Chargers and Las Vegas Raiders. 

"You get there, you catch your breath, you bounce your grandchildren on your knees for a while, you show what a great communicator you are, you show how sharp you still are, which he unbelievably is, and then you don’t have to rush into to go coach the Panthers or the Bears or the Chargers," Curran said about Belichick possibly spending a season working for a network. "You don’t have to squish this staff together in three weeks and be ready to go someplace else." 

Interestingly, media reporter Richard Deitsch of The Athletic shared this past fall that Belichick could earn around $8M-$15M per year working as a studio analyst. Curran thinks the fact that Belichick turns 72 years old this coming April wouldn't stop teams from making the coach lucrative offers next January. 

"To me, television for one year — 72 (years old) ain’t what 72 used to be, either," Curran added. 

Belichick is 15 wins away from breaking the NFL record for career victories earned by a head coach (regular season and postseason combined) currently held by Don Shula. That may be reason enough for Belichick to pass on available television gigs this offseason unless he feels he needs a year-long reset before putting his Patriots tenure fully behind him.