Bill Belichick deserves votes for both the Coach of the Year award and the Executive of the Year award. Both Coach Bill and GM Bill — yes, two alter-egos of the same man — have worked together to perfection. Belichick took the 2019 version of his team — with cap issues, a string of bad drafts and the impending departure of Tom Brady — and converted the Patriots into this 2021 version, a Super Bowl contender.
With Belichick, it’s just another ho-hum transformation. Anywhere else? It would be a masterpiece of personnel management.
It was hard to imagine the Patriots, in their supposed rebuilding year, finish 7-9. And it was even harder to imagine New England looking ready to compete for a Super Bowl in such a short time. So let’s look at the moves that have helped the Patriots move back into relevance.
