Bill Belichick promised to mentor Josh McDaniels if he stays with the Patriots

The New England Patriots will have some offensive consistency with Josh McDaniels’ return as offensive coordinator after a whole lot of drama. What did Bill Belichick and the Patriots offer McDaniels so he would back out of the Colts head coaching job at the final minute?

Not too much, according to ESPN’s Mike Reiss.

“Belichick told McDaniels that he would spend more time with him on the inner workings of the Patriots, including roster construction and salary-cap management, which was viewed as “extremely valuable” to McDaniels,” Reiss reports. “It is an arrangement that owners Robert and Jonathan Kraft endorsed because it could ultimately be part of a succession plan for Belichick in the future, although no assurances were made to McDaniels.

“Another part of the Patriots’ sales pitch that swayed McDaniels, per sources, was a long-term contractual commitment that would give McDaniels’ four children, who are ages 12, 10, 6 and 3, the chance to stay in the same school system for an extended period of time. McDaniels has told those close to him that such stability is rare in the coaching profession, and is something he values.”

That...that’s it? Belichick promised to spent more time with McDaniels and they gave him an extension and that was enough for McDaniels to burn bridges with most of the league and to lose his agent? That sounds ridiculous simple.

NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero notes that McDaniels had a contract with the Patriots that was set to expire after the 2018 season and that he hasn’t signed a new deal yet. Pelissero also reports that whatever deal McDaniels has with the Patriots to be the heir to Belichick can’t be official due to the Rooney Rule. So McDaniels is operating on trust in the Kraft family.

So look for McDaniels to sign a new extension and for him to spend more time learning how to run a team with Belichick. Perhaps an Assistant Head Coachship could be in play, too. This just seems way too easy and small of a “sweetener” for the Patriots to offer in order to retain McDaniels.