Fox update:Talented yet underachieving Falcons attracting Bill Belichick?

The Falcons have been linked to Bill Belichick even before Arthur Smith was fired, and the reports connecting them to Belichick have only ramped up since the end of the season, culminating in an official interview that took place yesterday. It’s no longer rumors anymore.

Bill Belichick will be 72 years old by the time next season rolls around. He may still feel like he has a lot of gas left in the tank, but as we saw with Nick Saban recently, things can change on a whim in that regard. It’s very likely Belichick only has a few years left of coaching.

Does he really want to spend his final years coaching a team that doesn’t already have an answer at the quarterback position, much like the situation he just left in New England? And should the Falcons really be interested in an aging coach who could decide to retire in a few years, leaving them searching for another head coach in the near future?

It doesn’t sound like either party should have much interest in the other; however, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported Tuesday on SportsCenter that the six-time Super Bowl champion is interested in coaching “talented, yet underachieving teams” and that “Atlanta probably falls in that category.

We were hearing for a while that the Falcons were interested and so now I’m hearing that there is mutual interest between the Falcons and Belichick,” Fowler said. “To what extent? Still unclear. But enough for them to meet in person with owner Arthur Blank talking to Belichick, hashing out what their vision might be for that program for a team that’s really a quarterback away. I was told from the beginning that Belichick would likely target talented, yet underachieving teams. Atlanta probably falls in that category.

There’s no question the Falcons are a talented and underachieving team. They proved that throughout the season, beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Houston Texans, and the Green Bay Packers — three teams still alive going into the Divisional Round of the playoffs. However, the Falcons also lost to the Panthers, Commanders, Cardinals, Titans, and Bears. That’s five teams set to pick within the first nine picks of the upcoming NFL draft, including three of the first four.