Early Sunday morning as tailgates began firing up at Gillette Stadium ahead of the Bills game, a bit of a bombshell broke.

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that Bill Belichick – who’s job security has been in question the last few weeks – actually signed a ‘lucrative, multi-year’ contract in the offseason.

“Sources say Bill Belichick during the offseason quietly agreed to. lucrative, multi-year new contract,” he said during NFL Gameday this morning. “His contract is one of the mostly closely held secrets in New England. I think it’s fair to say some t least some uncertainty, or intrigue surrounded him. Now, contractually, he is locked up long term…this at least adds some context with the Patriots committing to the greatest coach in history long term.”

The news is a bit stunning considering how poorly the team has played this season. Do the Krafts really want him building the team long term? Do they want him to get the all-time wins record here if it means more sub-.500 seasons? Or, does this simply make him easier to trade around draft time? Is there language in it that says he’d move upstairs into an advisory role when he’s done coaching?

The timing of the news is interesting too. With two possible lopsided losses coming against Buffalo and Miami these next two weeks, perhaps everyone involved wanted any more job security talk to be squashed before it even begins.

Either way, for a team that’s 1-5 and a shell of what they used to be, the fascinating aspects from top to bottom in the organization continue to give us something to talk about daily.