Philadelphia Eagles’ head coach, Andy Reid: Our front office works very well together – NFL News
The Philadelphia Eagles have reacted strongly to a report from the Los Angeles Times
claiming that the team’s head coach, Andy Reid, was ready to leave his job if the team did not pursue Peyton Manning following his release by the Indianapolis Colts.
The report suggested that Reid wanted more control over the team’s personnel and had some issues with the front office and ownership.
However, Reid has rubbished all these claims in his statement and stressed that the team’s front office works in coordination with everyone and that, he said, is Eagles’ strength.
The statement read:
"As far as the personnel control, I have had had final say on personnel matters for quite some time here and that's never been an issue or a point of contention.”
It added:
"Our front office works very well together and that's one of our strengths."
Eagles were not the only ones to express interest in hiring Peyton. He is unarguably one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL and many teams contacted the player after his release.
Peyton, however, was reportedly not interested in selecting a team from the National Football Conference (NFC) apparently because his younger brother, Eli Manning, plays for an NFC East team, New York Giants, and Peyton did not want to compete against Eli
in the conference.
Peyton ended up joining the Denver Broncos, who released the sensational Tim Tebow to create room for the veteran.
The LA Times’ report mentioned the contract of Eagles’ present quarterback, Michael Vick, who was given a 6-year, $100 million deal last year and said that despite the hefty contract, Reid still wanted to pursue Manning.
In his statement, Reid has clarified his position by saying that Eagles were pursuing Manning just like any other team was doing.
While praising Peyton, Reid expressed complete confidence in Vick and said that the team is going to rely on him in future.
The head coach said:
"We look into everything, as all teams do. And I have the highest regard for Peyton Manning. But as I said publicly last month, that wasn't the direction we were heading in. Michael (Vick) is our guy.”
According to different reports, Eagles also expressed interest in trading the second overall pick from the St. Louis Rams for the upcoming NFL drafts to select a quarterback.
However, the pick was traded to Washington Redskins later.
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