Arguably the biggest obstacle to Bill Belichick remaining with the New England Patriots has been the perception he would be unwilling to surrender personnel control.

Belichick shattered that notion in his season-ending press conference after a dismal 4-13 campaign came to an end with a loss to the New York Jets.

Asked if he would be open to bringing in someone else to help with personnel decisions, he replied: “I’m for whatever we collectively decide as an organization is the best thing for this football team.”

It is an unexpected response from Belichick, who has long since had complete personnel control, and understandably so given his remarkable success during a tenure that has delivered six Super Bowl titles.

But a string of bad drafts and ill-advised free agent decisions have left the Patriots with a talent-poor roster ill-equipped to compete at the level they did during the Tom Brady era.

Despite the 2023 record, it's clear Belichick has not lost his any of his aptitude for coaching, especially on the defensive side of the ball. The Patriots allowed only 4.7 yards per play and finished the year eighth in Expected Points Added per play and seventh in Success Rate on defense.

The offense is a huge problem, with the lack of talent particularly evident on that side of the ball, where the inability to develop any of their quarterbacks has severely limited the Patriots' production.

But that is a fixable problem, and the immediate talk of Belichick potentially attracting interest from teams such as the Washington Commanders helps illustrate why the Patriots should consider keeping him.

A willingness to give up complete personnel control makes him more attractive to teams interested in hiring Belichick the coach, but it also makes the possibility of him finding middle ground with the Patriots more realistic. A fascinating decision for Robert Kraft potentially just got a little bit easier.

Bill Belichick provides an explanation for Mac Jones’ demotion in final game

This could be very telling.