The Dallas Cowboys get head coach Jason Garrett become a free agent. But not for long.
Two days after the Cowboys lost in the divisional round of the playoffs to the Green Bay Packers, Garrett and the Cowboys agreed to a five-year, $30 million contract, as first reported by ESPN's Chris Mortensen.
That's $6 million per year for those who hate math. There are currently seven head coaches who are believed to make more in the NFL on a per-year basis: Bill Belichick, Sean Payton, Pete Carroll, Jeff Fisher, John Harbaugh, Tom Coughlin and Chip Kelly.
Three more — Mike Tomlin, Andy Reid and Mike McCarthy — also are believed to make $6 million per year.
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Of those 10 coaches, only Kelly has not coached in a Super Bowl, and seven of them have won the big game at least once.
Garrett has not. He has one playoff victory in his his four-plus seasons as head coach, plus a regular-season mark of 41-31 that included three straight 8-8 finishes before this seasons division title at 12-4.
Is Garrett as accomplished as the rest of the $6 million-and-up club? No, but he has similar or better marks than those right below him — the likes of Bruce Arians, Jay Gruden, Bill O'Brien, Lovie Smith, Chuck Pagano and Marvin Lewis.
It's an interesting debate, but Garrett is probably earning — all things considered for one of the most profitable sports franchises in the world — about the right amount.
But he certainly has much more to prove, too.
The report from NFL Network that defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli is returning is extremely promising; if offensive coordinator Scott Linehan comes back, the Cowboys will enjoy some nice coaching continuity. That said, how the contract negotiations play out with Dez Bryant and DeMarco Murray are another story entirely.
It's interesting to see, though, that Jones will pay good money for Garrett considering he once bristled at the idea of overpaying for a coach and famously said that any of "500 people" could do Jimmy Johnson's job back in the 1990s.
It's also interesting that, with nine more games under his belt next season, Garrett will pass Johnson as the longest-tenured coach in the Jones era with 81 games as a head coach. Yes, Garrett already has coached eight more than Bill Parcells did in Dallas. (And for those wondering, Garrett would need to coach another 22 seasons — when he turns 71 — to catch Tom Landry's 418 games coached.)
Jones knows he has a coach who can win. This season proved that. The Cowboys still have clear room for improvement in a few areas, and that's saying something for a 12-win team. Assuming the team is not demolished in free agency, Garrett should have the nucleus of a strong team and a quarterback in Tony Romo he believes in.
That right there is worth $6 million per year. You know, assuming they win more playoff games and such.
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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at edholm@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Eric_Edholm
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