Robert Kraft and Bill Belichick (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
A new report suggests Bill Belichick was screwed out of a head coaching job by former boss Robert Kraft this year.

Kraft decided to part ways with the man who coached his team to six Super Bowls after a stint spanning over two decades, letting him go at the end of the 2023 season.

According to ESPN’s Don Van Natta Jr., Seth Wickersham, and Jeremy Fowler, Belichick met Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank on his yacht near Antigua for his first official job interview since 1998.

Sources noted that Bill “showed no rust.” Blank later told colleagues he was impressed.

A source close to Belichick claimed, “I think Blank came away from the boat thinking this is my guy.”

The parties agreed to have a second meeting with Falcons CEO Rich McKay and other executives. However, Blank phoned Kraft, whom he considers his closest friend among NFL owners, and was told that he should not trust Bill Belichick.

“Publicly, Kraft and Blank have said Kraft expressed only support and offered praise of his former coach,” the report reads. “But in a conversation with Blank, Kraft delivered a stark assessment of Belichick’s character, according to a source who spoke to two people: a close Kraft friend and a longtime Belichick confidant. The source quoted the Belichick source as saying, “Robert called Arthur to warn him not to trust Bill.” That account was backed up, the source said, by the close Kraft friend.”

Robert Kraft Was One Of The Main Reasons The Falcons Did Not Hire Bill Belichick

Several sources claim that Kraft was very frank in his delivery and “was a big part” of why the Falcons decided to go in another direction.

Kraft is also understood to have told Blank that “you’ll never have a warm conversation with” Belichick.

“Blank likes coaches who feel part of a family,” a Falcons source added, “and it wasn’t going to be that way with Bill.“

The team ultimately chose to hire Raheem Morris, who Blank says “was the right fit for us going forward, made the most sense. I understood the man, understood the history, understood the presence, understood how he had grown.“

Belichick will have to wait another year before vacancies open up again. It would be hard to imagine teams passing up on him in two consecutive offseasons.