Bill Belichick is Getting Dangerously Close to Tanking for Trevor Lawrence

The Boston sports area continues to mourn days after six-time Super Bowl champion quarterback Tom Brady opted to leave the New England Patriots to join the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Yet they're still in a state of denial, placing their total faith in head coach Bill Belichick in winning with any quarterback.

This isn't the 16-0 Patriots. This is a New England squad that underperformed offensively last year, and that very same roster will not be returning in 2020, having undergone a defensive exile over the past few days, and with fourth-round selection Jarrett Stidham still in place to take over the reins under center. Make no mistake about it -- the Patriots are getting close to tanking for Clemson signal caller Trevor Lawrence in the 2021 NFL Draft. Bill Belichick wouldn't actually do that, though...would he?

We're not taking anything away from Belichick, who has solidified his spot as the greatest coach in football history. The thing is, he's entering uncharted territory. Plenty of players have jumped ship in free agency, mostly due to the Patriots only having a little over $3 million in cap space to spend. As a result, the team was unable to bring in quality replacements, while letting Jamie Collins, Kyle Van Noy, Danny Shelton, and likely Elandon Roberts walk (as well as dealing Duron Harmon to save extra cash).

Now, the Patriots have seen AFC East rivals in the Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins (at their expense) improve vastly via free agency and the trade market. New England will be entering with a stripped-down version of the roster that was embarrassed by the Tennessee Titans in the AFC Wild Card Round of the playoffs, losing pieces from the defense that served as their supposed strength.

But hey, if they can get into territory to secure Lawrence in next year's draft, then that's not a bad consolation prize. It may not be in Belichick's DNA to deliberately tank (read: it DEFINITELY isn't), but it's something he has to consider if things go awry at the very start of the 2020 regular season.

And you best believe this will be every Patriot hater's worst nightmare, which will no doubt bring an uncharacteristic smile to the face of Belichick.

He doesn't have a lot of years left in the league, and it seems unlikely he'd waste a full 365 days just to set up his successor. That being said...what else could the "grand plan" be, at this point?