Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll got his Christmas present a day early: a contract extension keeping him through 2021. The team announced the news via their Twitter account.
The contract, as per Ian Rapoport is worth more than $11 million per year. The dollar amount would make Carroll one of the highest paid coaches in the NFL.
There was speculation that Carroll was contemplating retirement. As the 2017 season ended, reports came out that Carroll may consider the idea, but these reports were debunked just as they began by Carroll himself.
The Seahawks entered a rebuilding phase of sorts in recent years, breaking up their once punishing secondary and letting other players such as running back Marshawn Lynch walk away. Despite the loss of talent, they are still in the thick of things, having clinched a playoff berth after Sunday’s win over the Kansas City Chiefs. The Seahawks have made some questionable coaching decisions, but they have remained competitive.
It looks like the job openings in the NFC West will be small in the near future. The San Francisco 49ers endured a harsh 2018, but Kyle Shanahan kept the team playing hard long after they were out of contention—he’s not going anywhere. The Los Angeles Rams are right now fighting for the No. 2 seed in the 2018 NFL playoffs and with back to back appearances in the postseason, firing Sean McVay would be ridiculous. There will be may be one job opening and that would be with the Arizona Cardinals who are reportedly gearing up to fire Steve Wilks after just one season.
So it looks like 49ers fans will be seeing Carroll on the sideline for a few more years. Hopefully the 49ers can make things as difficult in future years as he has for them in the past.