Report: Eagles owner ‘undecided’ on keeping Doug Pederson
Doug Pederson and owner Jeffrey Lurie will meet in Florida this week and the air of finality for the Philadelphia Eagles appears to be palpable.
ESPN reported the first meeting between coach and owner last week “did not go well” but that Lurie remains “undecided” on whether to retain Pederson.
Following the season-ending loss to the Washington Football Team, Pederson voiced confidence he was going to be back as head coach for a sixth season.
“I feel fully confident to be the head coach of the Eagles in 2021,” Pederson said. “The thing I’m most proud of this football team, we have been in the postseason three of the last five years since I’ve been here and that’s pretty good.”
Lurie reportedly has concerns that include Pederson’s plan to fix an offense that underperformed in 2020, the future at the quarterback position and the makeup of the coaching staff. The contracts of defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, senior offensive assistant Rich Scangarello and senior offensive consultant Marty Mornhinweg expired, and they will not be returning.
Pederson reportedly prefers to fill the offensive coordinator role with Press Taylor, the team’s 32-year-old quarterbacks coach. ESPN reports Lurie wants the position filled from outside the organization.
The Eagles’ offense ranked 24th in the NFL in yards per game (334.6), 26th in scoring (20.9 points) and 28th in passing yards (207.9). Pederson removed Carson Wentz as the starting quarterback after 12 games and replaced him with rookie Jalen Hurts.
Multiple outlets have reported Wentz wants time to determine where he stands on returning to the Eagles, despite being under contract. General manager Howie Roseman indicated the day after the season ended that trading Wentz wasn’t an option.
“When you have players like that, they’re like fingers on your hand,” Roseman said. “You can’t imagine that they’re not part of you, that they’re not here. That’s how we feel about Carson.”
Pederson led the Eagles to their only Super Bowl win in franchise history after the 2017 season, and he has a record of 42-37-1 in five seasons with the Eagles. Since the win over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII, however, the Eagles are 22-25-1.
–Field Level Media
