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Pictures of New England Patriots team owner Robert Kraft and head coach Bill Belichick having dinner at Davio’s in Patriot Place circulated on Tuesday night. The timestamp of these photos place the meeting roughly one hour after news broke that offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels was staying in New England.
@stoolpresidente here ya go @dufinbakir pic.twitter.com/QMEoIclinr
— Kelly Getchell (@kgetch) February 7, 2018
I'd love to be a fly on the wall for this conversation between Kraft and Belichick that is going on right now pic.twitter.com/iw5AODRNdM
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) February 7, 2018
NBCS Boston’s Tom Curran notes that the duo didn’t have to meet in a public setting, suggesting that “they wanted the public to see there is no fissure” in the wake of the ESPN report. Curran also notes that both Kraft and Belichick “spent Monday and Tuesday convincing McDaniels to stay,” and that McDaniels wanted to know Belichick’s future plans before signing.
So Kraft and Belichick would appear to be on the same page with what Belichick’s future holds with the team.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport previously reported that Kraft and Belichick would need to clear the air about what happened with Jimmy Garoppolo and also make a decision on both an extension for Tom Brady and how to handle Brady’s trainer Alex Guerrero.
While it would be extremely surprising if the two decided to handle these conversations in public, perhaps the dinner is simply a message that the two have found a common ground and will start moving forward towards 2018 and beyond.