Robert Kraft's dream Bill Belichick replacement may be back on the market

This weekend, the 2023 NFL regular season officially concludes. With that, 14 teams will be preparing for their upcoming playoff games while the rest of the league will be evaluating their rosters and organizations. One team that fits in the latter category is the New England Patriots. The team is 4-12 entering Week 18, and there is uncertainty about the future of head coach Bill Belichick. That is a wild thing to say a couple of years ago, considering Belichick helped bring six Lombardi Trophies to New England.

If Patriots owner Robert Kraft and Belichick agree that it's best for both parties to part ways, who would replace the Hall of Fame head coach? Well, there is one candidate that Kraft is reportedly fond of that is back on the market.

According to ESPN senior NFL insider Adam Schefter, Mike Vrabel's future with the Tennessee Titans is still very much up in the air. While previous reporting indicated that Vrabel wasn't going anywhere, and the head coach recently expressed his desire to remain with the team, those around the league expect there to be a change.

"Despite speculation that the Titans are not expected to undergo significant change this offseason, there are expected to be organizational meetings between coach Mike Vrabel and the team's decision-makers to determine whether any notable changes will be made, league sources told ESPN," writes Schefter.

"There are people around the league who think that either Vrabel would be open to be moved to another team or that the Titans would be open to moving him -- maybe both."

Recent report indicates Mike Vrabel, Titans could be open to split

Back in November, Ben Volin of the Boston Globe noted that two sources close to the Patriots organization believed Vrabel to be Kraft's "home run choice" to replace Belichick. Shortly thereafter, The Athletic's senior NFL insider Dianna Russini reported that the Titans planned to keep Vrabel. Granted, these reports were in November.

With this latest update about Vrabel's status in Tennessee, it certainly opens the door for the Patriots.

The thing is, Vrabel is still under contract with the Titans. So if the Titans don't plan on firing him, teams interested in Vrabel's services will have to surrender draft capital for him. Once a rarity, trading for a head coach has now come back into reality, as last year, the Denver Broncos traded a 2023 first-round pick and a 2024 second-round pick to the New Orleans Saints for head coach Sean Payton.

Entering Week 18, Vrabel holds a 53-45 regular season record and a 2-3 playoff record in his six years as Titans head coach. Vrabel won the Coach of the Year Award in 2021 after leading the Titans to a 12-5 record.

While the expectation has been that the Patriots and Belichick would split, Schefter reports that neither the head coach nor Kraft have spoken about moving on. Russini reports that Kraft, Belichick, and Patriots president Jonathan Kraft are expected to have a meeting next week.

With both the Patriots and Titans out of playoff contention, we should get a better idea of what they will do this offseason in the next week or so. If the Titans move on from Vrabel, it would be fitting for the former Patriots linebacker to coach his former team.