One down, one major one to go.
The Eagles contractually locked in tight end Dallas Goedert for another year this week. He was about to enter a lame duck season, on the final year of a four-year contract that reportedly paid him $14 million per season. ESPN’s Field Yates reported this past Wednesday that his new deal will pay him $10 million this season, with the chance to earn $1 million more if he meets incentives.
That seemed to be the hard part of the Eagles’ offseason, since Goedert had been the subject of trade rumors.
Now comes what should be the easy part: Locking up Super Bowl-winning head coach Nick Sirianni, who this coming 2025 season will be in the final year of his contract.
It seems a foregone conclusion that it will get done.
But when?
What’s the holdup?
According to Front Office Sports, the top 10 highest-paid NFL coaches are:
1) Andy Reid, Kansas City Chiefs: $20 million
2) Sean Payton, Denver Broncos: $18 million
T-3) Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steelers: $16 million
T-3) Jim Harbaugh, Los Angeles Chargers: $16 million
5) Sean McVay, Los Angeles Rams: $15 million
6) Kyle Shanahan, San Francisco 49ers: $14 million
T-7) Ben Johnson, Chicago Bears: $13 million
T-7) Kevin O’Connell, Minnesota Vikings: $13 million
9) John Harbaugh, Baltimore Ravens: $12 million
10) Liam Cohen, Jacksonville Jaguars: $12 million
The next six are:
T-11) Dan Campbell, Detroit Lions: $11 million
T-11 )Sean McDermott, Buffalo Bills: $11 million
13) Mike Macdonald, Seattle Seahawks: $9 million
14) Dan Quinn, Washington Commanders: $8.5 million
15) DeMeco Ryans, Houston Texans: $8 million
16) Nick Sirianni, Philadelphia Eagles: $7 million
Chicago’s Ben Johnson and Jacksonville’s Liam Cohen have yet to walk a sideline as an NFL head coach and they will both make almost double what Sirianni’s makes.
Numerous current and former NFL coaches have said in the past that Sirianni’s “antics” and “arrogance” have rubbed many the wrong way. What none of them, however, have disputed is that he wins. He may not get merit Reid’s $20 million/per season, but he deserves to get paid in that vicinity.
“Yeah, superb job. I mean, Nick’s going to be our coach and we don’t talk publicly [about contracts], never have,” Eagles owner and CEO Jeffrey Lurie said during the Annual League Meeting back in March. “You guys, I’m sure, will find out soon enough that Nick will be our coach going forward, and he’s done an outstanding job.
“When we were 2-2, we went 16-1 after that, and the one was when Jalen Hurts, we were winning the game, got a concussion. So it’s not easy to go 16-1 in the National Football League, four of which are against playoff teams, one of which was the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl. So, outstanding job.
“Everything that I had hoped for with Nick, he embodies. Whether it’s connection, intelligence in so many ways, from football intelligence, emotional intelligence, managing of people, hiring of assistant coaches, growth mindset at all times. These are all the things that we embody, appreciate and are a big contributor to the culture we have. So, everything that I had hoped for early on, identifying Nick as the next head coach, has come to pass and great to work with, and he has a growth mindset, he’ll get better.”
In four years with the Eagles, Sirianni has appeared in the playoffs each season, while compiling a 48-20 record (.706 winning percentage), and 54-23 overall, including three straight seasons with at least 11 wins, and a 6-3 postseason record, which includes reaching the Super Bowl twice and winning Super Bowl LIX. In his time here, he has shown a great ability to adapt on the go. He inherited a 4–11–1 mess from Doug Pederson and turned it around in a season to go 9-8, after starting the year 2-5. The Eagles were 0-6 against playoff teams and the New Orleans Saints were the only team the Eagles beat with a winning record.
But they made the playoffs when on October 24, 2021, they did not look like they were going anywhere.
Sirianni changed the direction of the team by going from a passing team to a running team, using its strength to win—the offensive line.
He did not exactly shine when he first arrived in Philadelphia. He was perceived as “a goof” at first sight from the demanding fanbase, and “annoying” and in way over his head by some in the NFL coaching fraternity.
He openly wears his innate chip-on-the-shoulder attitude. It’s why he acts the way he does on the sideline, which is no excuse, but it explains his “I’m-going-to-stick-in-your-face” attitude. It is also a strength. It is why Sirianni keeps more tabs of the negatives in his head while he stresses the positives outwardly towards his players.
“I love him,” Brandon Graham said a few years ago. “This team loves him because he can relate to anyone. After you talk to Nick, you always get the sense he genuinely cares. I’ve only been in one place my whole career, but I talk to guys on other teams who see right through their coaches. Not Nick. It’s why guys want to play for him here. You know he has your back.”
In January of 2021, Sirianni signed a five-year, $35 million deal to undo a heaping mess.
He was flamboyant, and annoying at times along the way, but he got it done.
It’s why Sirianni deserves to get paid—and now, not later.
He deserves that peace of mind.
