Eagles Rumors: Bill Belichick was team’s top choice if Nick Sirianni didn’t agree to coaching staff changes

The NFL rumor mill never sleeps, especially down at the Senior Bowl, where rumors run rampant every year. The Eagles happen to be the subject of arguably the juiciest rumor to come out of Mobile, Alabama this time around.

According to Greg Bedard of the Boston Sports Journal, the Eagles were poised to offer Bill Belichick their head coaching job if things didn’t work out with Nick Sirianni this offseason. During Tuesday’s edition of “Felger & Mazz” on 98.5 The Sports Hub, Bedard has this to say:

“Other scuttlebutt, as far as Bill Belichick — and I had heard this before — that Bill, I think he was … at some point in time, things went poorly with the Falcons or he thought it was going to go poorly and his eyes were more on next year. And his eyes are more on the jobs that could be opened up next year. Including Dallas, possibly Buffalo.

Probably the most interesting thing that I’ve heard — and this is just Senior Bowl rumor mill — is that the Eagles were very interested in Belichick if things didn’t work out with Nick Sirianni and they could be at the front of the line if things again go poorly for [Sirianni] next year.”

More on the Eagles pursuit of Belichick from Bedard:

“Similar to Doug Pederson [after the 2020 season], Doug Pederson was coming back until he had that postseason meeting with Howie [Roseman] and Jeffrey Lurie. And they wanted Doug Pederson to do certain things, fire certain people, and he wouldn’t do it, so he got fired. Apparently, Nick Sirianni was amenable to all that stuff so they decided for one more year to keep him.

But I do think— remember, I told you guys that, before the end of the season, teams had already reached out to Bill, back-channeled on Bill. I thought the Falcons were definitely one of them. I’m now pretty convinced that the Eagles were the other one. When things were going south, they thought this might end poorly with Sirianni, and I wouldn’t be surprised given the relationship that Howie and Bill have that the Eagles were one of those teams to back channel through Bill.“

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Even if the Eagles would have parted ways with Sirianni this offseason, it would’ve been pretty shocking if they brought in Belichick, for a few reasons. One, they rarely go after big names like that when searching for a new head coach. And two, Lurie and Roseman appear to want as much control over the team as they can have. Belichick wouldn’t be a yes man like Sirianni. From an outsider’s perspective, the only reason Sirianni is still in the building is because he agreed to follow orders. The only conclusion we can come to based on that information is that the top of the organization values control over getting the best head coaching candidate.

The most interesting aspect here is Bedard’s speculation that the Eagles were actually reaching out to Belichick before the season was even over. If that’s what happened, there’s really no hope for this team in 2024. That’s clown show behavior. It’s not what winning organizations do.

Winning organizations get the absolute best people in place, both on the field and off, in order to win a Super Bowl. Belichick, by all accounts, was a better option than Sirianni. And it seems like even the brass of the organization knows that deep down.

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