NFL Rumors: Bill Belichick wanted nothing to do with Cowboys or Eagles

Ever since Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots mutually agreed to go their separate ways earlier this month, the seven-time Super Bowl champion (let's not forget his big win as a coordinator for the New York Giants) has been the hottest head coaching name on the open market.

Yet there's really only one team in the race to hire him, as the Atlanta Falcons have been pursuing the mercurial man with the sleeveless hoodies so hard that it would almost be a shock if Arthur Blank didn't land his dream coaching target.

The Falcons are an attractive landing spot for Belichick because he could have his pick of quarterback, their owner seems smitten with giving him the keys to the kingdom, and their record was a semi-respectable 8-9 last season despite all of their issues.

However, they aren't the best team with a potential need for a coach. After the Philadelphia Eagles late-season collapse, Nick Sirianni's job isn't 100 percent secure, and you'd think that if Belichick were interested, the Eagles would be willing to dump their current coach in a heartbeat.

Bill Belichick is tired of the media circus

Meanwhile, the Dallas Cowboys have decided to stick with Mike McCarthy despite a horrible playoff loss to the Green Bay Packers, in combination with other signs that indicate he is just as underwhelming of an option as he was in Wisconsin for years, wasting away Aaron Rodgers' prime years.

So why hasn't Belichick shown interest or had his agent put out media feelers to the Eagles and Cowboys? A league source informed Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio that after spending so many years dealing with the press in Boston, Belichick is no longer interested in working in a large media market, thus explaining his lack of interest in joining the Eagles or Cowboys.

Beyond just being major markets, Dallas and Philadelphia are even harsher environments for a head coach than Boston. At least with the Patriots, Belichick had a certain aura and level of grace afforded to him as a titanic coaching presence with more rings than can fit on one hand. In Philly or Dallas, they wouldn't care and might even hound him as an overrated "has-been" with a failed record as a GM and a legacy with an asterisk next to it because of Tom Brady.

Belichick doesn't want to deal with all that nonsense. He just wants to do his thing and win, which is a lot easier to do with Blank in Atlanta than, say, Jerry Jones in the Big D.