NFL rumors: One team is already out on Bill Belichick hire

Bill Belichick, for the first time since the new millennium arrived, is a free man. He and the New England Patriots have agreed to end their relationship, and he wants to keep coaching. Any of the 31 other teams in the NFL can now hire him, though plenty are already locked into coaches they are happy with, so his field is more like 8-10 large.

It also will be limited by one more team that is explicitly looking for a head coach.

Washington Commanders out on Bill Belichick already

Hours after the news went public that Bill Belichick and the Patriots were parting ways, it was reported that the Washington Commanders will not pursue him for their vacant head coach opening.

Jonathan Jones of CBS was first to report:

The Commanders have moved fast and furious this offseason, with new owner Josh Harris hiring big-name consultants to help him find a head executive for his football operations department and a new head coach. Given that Washington has already done some preliminary interviewing, adding Belichick to the mix might be a wrench in the process.

Furthermore, he would be massively expensive, but the biggest concern for a franchise like Washington is that the team wants to chart its own path. With a new owner, Harris wants to set and define his own culture with the hires he makes, and Belichick -- for better or for worse -- would be bringing over his own culture that he instilled in New England over the last 24 years.

Belichick could help the Commanders win a Super Bowl, but the Commanders seem to prefer a fresher mind and to build their own brand in this new era of ownership.