Bill Belichick Leaving New England Patriots? Rob Gronkowski Reveals 'Only Way'

Coach Bill Belichick is "grandfather-claused in" with the New England Patriots, former star tight end Rob Gronkowski believes.

The New England Patriots (2-10) have endured a dismal campaign entering their Thursday Night Football clash with the Pittsburgh Steelers (7-5).

With five straight losses and an offense that hasn't scored more than seven points since Nov. 5, little has gone right in Patriots coach Bill Belichick's 24th season.

New England's facing several difficult questions this offseason - perhaps the biggest being whether to bring back Belichick, a six-time Super Bowl winner and three-time AP Coach of the Year.

But according to one of Belichick's former stars, tight end Rob Gronkowski, this decision is as much Belichick's as it is owner Robert Kraft's.

"The only way I would say that he would coach somewhere else is if it's mutually agreed upon between both parties," Gronkowski said. "That's the only way I see that happening."

New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick watches from the sideline as they take on the Los Angeles Chargers at Gillette Stadium / Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

Gronkowski, who appeared recently on the "Up and Adams Show" with Kay Adams, played under Belichick in New England for the first nine years of his career, making five Pro Bowl's along the way.

While together, Gronkowski and Belichick won three Super Bowl's together, and the former feels the latter's lengthy and historic success warrants the right to go out on his own terms.

"I think he's grandfather-claused in," Gronk said. "He's been there for so long, he's done so much great for the organization. Six Super Bowl wins, taking the team from rock bottom back in the day - end of the '90s, early 2000s - and just bringing it to the promised land for all of New England."

But the Patriots are now long removed from those heights, with Belichick's team poised to miss the postseason for the third time in the past four years.

Can New England afford to cut ties with its legendary coach? Conversely, can it feasibly stick with the coach who's now just 9-19 since the start of 2022?

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That's for Kraft to decide - but in Gronkowski's eyes, Belichick has just much a say in his future as anybody.

For now, Belichick is focused on the present, with the Patriots and Steelers set to kickoff at 8:15 p.m. EST in Acrisure Stadium.

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