Julian Edelman rules out speculations around Bill Belichick being in the hot seat in 2023 - "That's ridiculous"

"Will the New England Patriots fire Bill Belichick?"

That question has been lingering over everyone's heads ever since Tom Brady left Foxboro after the 2019 season. The Patriots began dramatically regressing afterward, starting with their first losing season since Brady was still a fourth-string rookie.

2021 draft pick Mac Jones appeared to have righted the ship with a playoff appearance, but he then had a sophomore slump amidst a dispute with Belichick, contributing to their second postseason absence in three years.

This has led to doubts regarding the head coach's job security, as New England's AFC East rivals look primed for playoff pushes.

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Julian Edelman: Bill Belichick is not in the hot seat

One person who does not believe that Belichick is in danger, however, is Julian Edelman. The former postseason hero sat down with Rich Eisen on Friday to discuss his former head coach's situation heading into 2023.

When asked about the possibility that Belichick would be fired, he said:

"I think that's ridiculous. I mean, he had Tom Brady for 20 years. We didn't go to a Super Bowl 10 years after 2004. You know, this this stuff takes time. The hardest thing in the world is to find a quarterback...It's the biggest crapshoot: if you have a quarterback, you can win.

"I think he got caught in a pickle where he didn't think Josh [McDaniels, former offensive coordinator and quarterback coach] was probably going to leave and then it happened.

"He didn't have what he had going forward. And he's like, 'Screw it; we're going to go try this out.' And it backfired on him. But you can't put him on the hot seat."

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Is Bill Belichick really at risk of being fired?

Without a doubt, Bill Belichick is hailed as one of the greatest head coaches in NFL history, with six Super Bowl titles in nine appearances. However, as stated before, the New England Patriots have not been the same since Tom Brady's departure.

But how large of a risk is Belichick really facing of being fired? ESPN senior writer Seth Wickersham discussed this with Eisen on Thursday:

"I think [the seat]'s warm. It's my opinion that if the season ends, and the trajectory of the franchise is clearly trending down, [Robert] Kraft would weigh making a move very, very, very hard and might be willing to [replace Belichick]."

Belichick is only 19 victories away from surpassing the legendary Don Shula as the winningest head coach, combined regular-season and postseason, in NFL history.