Andy Reid, Chiefs to open talks on extension; Reid expected to become NFL's highest-paid head coach

Coming off back-to-back Super Bowl wins, the Chiefs and Andy Reid are expected to begin negotiations in the coming weeks on a new contract that NFL sources believe should soon make Reid the highest-paid coach in football.

General manager Brett Veach is also in line for a new deal, replacing the final two years on the contracts the duo signed following the 2019 season after the Chiefs’ win in Super Bowl LIV.

Since then, Kansas City has won two more championships — including this month’s Super Bowl LVIII victory over the San Francisco 49ers, which made the Chiefs the first repeat champions since the 2003-04 Patriots. And despite perpetual media speculation about retirement, the 65-year-old Reid has shown no signs of slowing down, confirming a day after Super Bowl LVIII that he would return in pursuit of a three-peat.

Throughout last season, league sources pointed out how unusual it is for a team to not finalize extensions after a Super Bowl win — in this case, the second title for Reid and Veach, who previously won Super Bowl LIV in February 2020 and agreed to new six-year deals that fall. A third championship after beating the 49ers this month in Las Vegas put the duo in rarified air, setting the stage for contracts that bring them in line with the NFL’s best and then some.

Reid is believed to rank roughly eighth among head coaches in average annual value on his contract — and third in the AFC West after the big-money additions in the past two years of Sean Payton and Jim Harbaugh, respectively. Veach, 46, is believed to be one of the NFL’s lowest-paid GMs.

Coach and GM contracts aren’t public record like player contracts, so tracking them can be tricky. But sources say a half-dozen NFL coaches are believed to be making $15 million or more per year, even after the dismissals of Bill Belichick and Pete Carroll this offseason. And it’s fair to say the Chiefs’ lack of new deals — and raises — for Reid and Veach after last year’s title was an anomaly in the modern NFL, raising some eyebrows around the league.

One year after the Chiefs’ first title under the current regime, the Bucs won Super Bowl LV and announced new contracts with head coach Bruce Arians and general manager Jason Licht that June. The Rams won Super Bowl LVI after that and announced extensions that September for head coach Sean McVay and GM Les Snead. (McVay acknowledged his was done much earlier.) The Eagles likewise announced extensions for head coach Doug Pederson and GM Howie Roseman after they won Super Bowl LII in February 2018.

Since that third Super Bowl win a couple of weeks ago, the Chiefs have signed defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo to a new three-year contract that puts him among the NFL’s highest-paid at the position and extended the contract of special teams coordinator Dave Toub.

Now, it’s Reid and Veach’s turn, with new deals potentially done by next month’s Annual League Meeting (March 24-27).