Convincing Bill Belichick to Sell at Trade Deadline Will Be No Easy Task

“You may feel a slight sting. That’s pride fucking with you. Fuck pride! Pride only hurts, it never helps.”

— Marcellus Wallace | “Pulp Fiction”

Should the Patriots be sellers at the NFL trade deadline?

It’s become somewhat of a rhetorical question but, I mean…..duh, yeah?!? Of course they should. At 2-6 this season is ostensibly over and in reality, has been for a while.

I know it, you know it, and I’m pretty sure Bill Belichick knows it too.

So WILL he do it? Will Bill put aside his pride and begin building towards a (hopefully) better future? A future that, at present he’s not even certain he will be a part of.

Not likely.

The bigger question is neither should nor will Bill Belichick start selling off parts before Tuesday’s NFL trade deadline, but what happens if he’s ordered to and still refuses? If owner Robert Kraft (Marcellus Wallace) summons Bill (Butch) into his office and tells him to toss the fight and Bill just says…no.

Or, does what Kraft demands but we have a repeat of 2017 when, according to ESPN, Kraft insisted that Belichick trade backup QB Jimmy Garoppolo at the deadline and move forth with Tom Brady.

How did that go? A grumpy Bill Belichick waited till just before the deadline and then gifted Garoppolo to the 49ers for far below market value. A 2nd round pick when the Browns had offered multiple picks including a 1st rounder earlier that offseason. No attempt to find a better offer. You want Jimmy? Here take him. A stunning act of petulance and self sabotage.

What makes anyone think things would be different this time around?

‘Hello Jerry. Josh Uche for a 7th? Ok send over the papers.’

“You got to appreciate what an explosive element this Bonnie situation is.”

— Julius | “Pulp Fiction”

This is where things get interesting. If Kraft has any inkling Belichick will not act in good faith, or a notion that the 2017 Garoppolo situation will play out once again, what choice does he have? Everyone is expecting the two to have a necessary and uncomfortable conversation about the direction of the franchise at the end of the season.

Well guess what? We’re here. This is the end. That conversation needs to happen now.

Robert Kraft needs to decide in the next 24 hours if he is moving forward with Bill Belichick next year and beyond. There is nothing left to see and no judgments left to be made. The evidence is laid bare. This is a bad football team whose future looks more bleak than its present. There is little to no blue chip talent and not much reason to think Belichick and his antiquated team building philosophy is equipped to fix it.

Either Kraft gives the 3rd winningest coach in NFL history, and the man who helped bring 6 Super Bowl Titles to Foxboro assurances that won loss record this season doesn’t matter (wink, wink, we actually want to lose) and tells Bill that he’ll be around to shepherd this team into the future. Or he determines that Belichick is no longer the guy to lead this team and do what everyone wants the Patriots to do by 4pm tomorrow.

Forget the past, punt on the present and start looking to the future, today.

John Zannis