NFL exec: Patriots would want three first-round picks in Bill Belichick trade

If Bill Belichick did decide he wanted to leave the New England Patriots after his 18th season with the franchise, the level of interest in the five-time Super Bowl champion would be unprecedented. But what price would teams be willing to pay?

Reports have indicated that Belichick is still under contract with the Patriots for several more years. That means any team that wanted to hire him would have to compensate New England with draft picks. How many draft picks? One NFL executive told Gary Meyers of the New York Daily News that Patriots owner Robert Kraft would not take anything less than three first-rounders.

“You think Robert Kraft became a millionaire and runs the best organization in the league and he’s just going to lay down and say, ‘We’re going to let you have him?’” the executive asked. “Three No. 1 draft picks.”

That price seems steep even for Belichick, especially since the future Hall of Famer is 65. Meyers reported last week that Belichick sees an opening to coach the New York Giants — a team with which he has a lot of history — and wants to do that before he retires. And with the G-Men in search of a new coach after a three-win season, Meyers’ source insists “age doesn’t matter.”

The biggest compensation package for a head coach came in 2002, when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers sent the Oakland Raiders two first-round picks, two second-round picks and $8 million for Jon Gruden. When Belichick infamously bailed on the Jets after 24 hours in 2000, the Patriots gave New York a first-round pick. And in 1997, former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue served as an arbitrator when the Jets balked at the Patriots’ asking price of the No. 1 overall pick in the 1997 draft for Bill Parcells. The package ended up being third- and fourth-round picks in 1997, a second-round pick in 1998 and a first-round pick in 1999.

As you can see, trading three first-round picks for a head coach seems excessive. But this could be the greatest coach in history we are talking about, so Kraft wouldn’t make a franchise-altering move like that without being paid handsomely — even if Belichick ends up wanting out.

For what it’s worth, Belichick tried to address the rumors about his future this week.