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Famously curt New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick recently responded to the rumors that the Pats looked into acquiring quarterback Aaron Rodgers during the offseason.
In traditional Belichick fashion, the legendary 71-year-old coach denied any knowledge of the team inquiring about Rodgers, who eventually landed in the AFC East with the New York Jets.
“Yeah I’m not really sure what you’re referring to,” Belichick said during a recent interview on WEEI’s The Greg Hill Show when asked about the Rodgers rumors that surfaced earlier this year.
“I personally couldn’t speak to that. Look, there’s a lot of conversations in the offseason between our personnel people and other executives. I don’t know what he’s really talking about. I personally didn’t talk to the Packers about Aaron Rodgers, no… I mean look, I mean Aaron Rodgers is a great player. That’s not really, that’s not anything I was aware of.”
Heading into his fourth season since he and future Hall of Fame signal-caller Tom Brady parted ways, Belichick finds himself in the unfamiliar position of being projected as the worst team in the AFC East, at least according to current betting odds.
This, of course, is because the New York Jets — who have been the doormat of the AFC East for over a decade now — were able to land Rodgers in the offseason, which instantly vaulted them to Super Bowl contender status.
With less than a month to go until the NFL season officially kicks off Thursday, September 7 with a matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and Detroit Lions, the Jets have the seventh-shortest odds to win the Super Bowl, which trails on the Chiefs, Eagles, 49ers, Bills, Bengals, and Cowboys.
The Patriots, on the other hand, have Super Bowl odds of about +6000, which puts them in the same neighborhood as the New York Giants, Tennessee Titans, Pittsburgh Steelers, Denver Broncos, and Green Bay Packers.
Other than the expected and sudden improvement of the Jets, both the Buffalo Bills, who have won the AFC East for the last 3 years, and the Miami Dolphins, who were a Wild Card team last season, are both expected to compete for playoff births.
The New England Patriots will kick off their 2023 season on Sunday, September 10 against the Philadelphia Eagles, the reigning NFC champions.