Tom Brady's interest in surprising Bill Belichick coaching pivot comes with serious questions

It took them an extra day for reasons that are still unclear, but the Las Vegas Raiders have finally hopped on this year's coaching carousel, firing Antonio Pierce after just one largely disastrous season at the helm. It's back to the drawing board once again for one of the NFL's most dysfunctional organization, which has to hope that this next hire will finally bring the one to bring consistency and competitiveness to the desert.

Of course, these Raiders have something that previous iterations didn't: a minority owner with six Super Bowl rings in Tom Brady. Brady has no interest in being associated with mediocrity, and this offseason is his first chance to really put his imprint on the franchise he officially joined back in October. And from the latest rumors, it sounds like he's not wasting any time busting out his Rolodex.

Tom Brady has sights set on Bill Belichick as Raiders head coach

It's been nearly a month now since Bill Belichick shocked the football world by accepting the head coaching job at North Carolina, and to his credit, Belichick has seemed as committed as you'd hope, landing commitments on the recruiting trail at an impressive clip. But despite all the photo-ops, the NFL seems pretty unconvinced that Belichick is actually committed to this whole college thing: According to Tom Pelissero, several teams have reached out to his camp to see whether he'd consider coming back to the pro ranks. Foremost among them? Brady and the Raiders.

On the surface, this probably seems crazy. Belichick knew what sorts of NFL jobs might come open this cycle; if he were interested in any of them, why wouldn't he have just bided his time rather than heading to Chapel Hill? He wouldn't really about-face this quickly, would he?

Maybe he wouldn't; maybe this is all just wishful thinking, and Belichick is sending teams away with a polite but firm "no". But there's an awful lot of smoke here for there to be no fire whatsoever, and it's worth noting that the specifics of Belichick's contract do appear to leave the door open to a return to the NFL sooner rather than later.

What is Bill Belichick's buyout at North Carolina?

Belichick is set to make $10 million annually over the course of the five-year deal he signed with UNC last month. More concerning for the Heels, though, is his buyout: Currently set at $10 million, that number will drop all the way down to a very manageable $1 million after June 1 of this year. That sure doesn't seem like a coach who felt completely sure of his decision to leave the NFL behind, and let's face it: Even $10 million isn't prohibitive for a team like the Raiders if it decides that Belichick is the man for the job.

And with Brady bending Mark Davis' ear, it's very easy to imagine that being the case; it's not like there are a ton of other compelling candidates on the market this cycle, especially with Mike Vrabel seemingly bound for the New England Patriots and Ben Johnson eyeing the Chicago Bears. There's every reason for Brady to have Belichick on the top of his list, and while Belichick might still say thanks but no thanks, this has the potential to get very messy.