IS BUYING CROSS-COUNTRY SKIS
Eagles president Joe Banner said in a TV interview that he's confident Andy Reid's contract will be extended before the end of next season, when it expires.
"I'm sure it will be," Banner told Larry Kane on the Voice of Reason, which will air Sunday night. "I think we have a phenomenal relationship with Andy. We view him as one of the top couple of coaches in the league."
Reid's place in Eagles history is well-documented. He has the most wins (both regular and postseason) and the best winning percentage in franchise history. But he hasn't been able to bring the city its first Super Bowl.
Banner was asked how much Reid's performance in 2009 will figure in to the team's plans to extend him. He offered an answer which we've heard many times about evaluating players and coaches with a wide lens, not focusing on week-to-week performances.
"You know, one of the things that you're very aware of when you're the inside of any one of these teams is fluctuations and evaluations of players or coaches from kind of week to week, when they really are what they are," Banner said. "So Andy could have a bad week, he could have a bad year, it wouldn't change the fact that he's in the upper echelon of coaches in this league, and we feel lucky to have him. So at whatever point, I'm sure that that issue will be resolved."
Unless I'm missing something, this is the most information we've received about a potential Reid extension. Jeffrey Lurie was asked about it during training camp, and while he certainly backed Reid, he wouldn't offer any details or assurances.
"The history of dealing with coaches and Andy, in particular, I've never ever spoken about it," Lurie said back in August. "Even when we've had slow starts, which we often do, everybody wants to talk about is Andy still going to be the coach and blah, blah, blah. I never go there. Everything will happen very privately and that's the way it has always been. I think that's the reason why it has always worked so well."
Given Banner's comments, it seems very likely that an extension would come before the start of the 2010 season But could one be coming soon? Before this season is over?
And finally, for you conspiracy theorists out there, are we sure that Reid wants an extension? By all accounts, he's happy here. There's stability. And he has plenty of control. But there's no question his phone would be ringing off the hook if he were to hit the open market.
