Contract deal will keep McCarthy with Packers through 2015

By Bob McGinn of the Journal Sentinel
Feb. 15, 2011 8:47 p.m.

Green Bay Mike McCarthy will vault among the 10 highest-paid coaches in the National Football League when the finishing touches on his contract extension with the Green Bay Packers are completed.

Sources with knowledge of the negotiations said McCarthy's new contract will average about $5 million per year.

Last week, the Packers got around to announcing an extension for general manager Ted Thompson that was agreed upon Dec. 13.

In January, the club commenced negotiations with Trace Armstrong, the former Pro Bowl defensive end and ex-president of the NFL Players Association who has replaced Gary O'Hagan as McCarthy's agent. Armstrong works for CAA Sports.

Thompson, 58, signed a three-year extension that will obligate him to the Packers through the 2015 season.

The negotiations with the 47-year-old McCarthy also center on a three-year extension that will carry him through 2015. After five years, he has a record of 53-34 for a winning percentage of .609.

Packers President Mark Murphy has said that he wanted both contracts to mirror each other in length.

Both Thompson and McCarthy signed new five-year contracts in January 2008. At the time, Thompson's deal averaged about $2 million and McCarthy's deal averaged about $4 million.

Thompson's average annual compensation climbed to about $2.5 million, according to sources, and McCarthy's will jump to about $5 million.

Some friends of Thompson expressed reservations about just how long he wanted to continue working at his current pace. In September, a friend in the scouting fraternity said he wouldn't have been surprised if Thompson would just ride off back to Texas and take a job for Green Bay or another team as a lowly area scout.

"Ted's in a very secure place financially and knowing who he is and what he wants to do," the source said. "He's a football guy through and through. The thing he doesn't like is all the other (expletive) that goes with it. At some point, sooner than later, he's going to say, 'You know what? I've had enough of it.' "

Thus, Murphy and the Packers' executive committee were said to be overjoyed when Thompson agreed to remain running the football department for at least five more years.

Fresh from victory in the 45th Super Bowl, the Packers will have their two top football decision-makers under contract for five more years.

The decision by McCarthy to negotiate an extension now is somewhat unusual by NFL standards in that he has two years left on his contract. In most cases, successful coaches receive extensions months before beginning their final season.

At the same time, McCarthy will have the protection of what's expected to be a fully guaranteed contract in case quarterback Aaron Rodgers would suffer a long-term injury and the team's fortunes would sag.

When McCarthy was hired by the Packers in January 2006, he gambled on himself by taking a three-year contract rather than a four- or five-year deal. His thinking was that the short-team deal would enable him to get back to the bargaining table soon because he was confident the Packers were going to win under him.

His initial three-year, $5.1 million contract averaged $1.7 million. According to a source, it contained salaries of $1.5 million in 2006, $1.7 million in '07 and $1.9 million in '09.

Due in part to the current uncertain labor situation, several teams have been more cost-conscious than usual when it comes to head-coaching salaries.

Sources said the average salary for new coaches in 2011 was less than it was for new coaches in 2009 and '10. Moreover, Cincinnati's Marvin Lewis reportedly extended his contract for less or comparable money with the Bengals, and John Fox's new contract in Denver is for less than he was making in Carolina.

At the same time, there was little rush by teams to throw $8 million-per-year deals to unemployed coaches such as Bill Cowher, Jon Gruden and Brian Billick, all of whom have a Super Bowl ring on their rsum.

Reliable, verified data on coaching salaries is difficult to obtain, even for teams. But based on best estimates, the highest-paid coach in the NFL is Washington's Mike Shanahan at about $7 million per year.

Shanahan, who won two Super Bowls in Denver in the 1990s, has a record of 160-113 (.586).

Three others also average more than $6 million per year: New England's Bill Belichick (177-100, .639), who has won three Super Bowls; Seattle's Pete Carroll (42-43, .494); and Philadelphia's Andy Reid (128-82-1, .609), who has had one losing Super Bowl.

Five other coaches, according to a source with access to salary information, average between $5 million and $5.25 million. McCarthy will increase the number to six.

The group includes Chicago's Lovie Smith (54-46, .559), the New York Giants' Tom Coughlin (141-114, .553), Arizona's Ken Whisenhunt (36-34, .514), New Orleans' Sean Payton (53-33, .616) and San Francisco's Jim Harbaugh.

Smith, Coughlin and Payton have won Super Bowls. Whisenhunt lost a Super Bowl. Harbaugh hasn't coached a game but reportedly had two other NFL teams as well as the University of Michigan trying to hire him last month.

Then there are six more coaches earning in the $4 million range.

That group includes Jacksonville's Jack Del Rio (66-65, .504), Atlanta's Mike Smith (33-17, .660), Denver's Fox (78-74, .513), Pittsburgh's Mike Tomlin (48-23, .676), the New York Jets' Rex Ryan (24-14, .632) and Baltimore's John Harbaugh (36-19, .655).

Tomlin is 1-1 in Super Bowls. Fox was 0-1 for Carolina.

Tennessee's Jeff Fisher, the dean of NFL coaches, departed Tennessee earlier in the month. He was among those with average compensation of more than $6 million.