On Monday evening, the Kansas City Chiefs officially signed HC Andy Reid to a long-term contract extension. The deal pays Reid over $18M annually, making him the highest-paid coach in the league and keeping him in Kansas City for the next six seasons. At the end of his contract with the Chiefs, Reid will be 71 years old. But will it be enough time for him to cement himself as the greatest head coach in the history of the NFL?
In his 11 seasons in Kansas City and 14 years in Philly, Reid's regular season record includes 258 wins. That currently ranks fourth in league history behind Bill Belichick (302), George Halas (318) and Don Shula (328). It has taken 28 years since Shula retired for anyone to come close to his record. Belichick is out of the league just 27 wins shy of the record. Reid still needs 71 wins to surpass Shula. It'll be tough, but his history with the Chiefs says it can be done.
Reid will enter the 2024 NFL season as the league's active leader in wins by a head coach. During that 11-season span with Kansas City, Reid has averaged 12 (11.6) wins per season. If he continues that trend for the life of his new contract, he'd have 330 wins by the end of the 2029 NFL season.
Reid will tell you he doesn't much care about this from a legacy standpoint. He'll say that he won't think about it until his career is over. However, it feels like the length of his contract was crafted with this goal in mind. Only time will tell if it's achievable for Reid, but he'll have a good shot at getting the all-time regular-season wins record.
Don't forget about the postseason and combined wins
Beyond the regular season win record, the postseason win record is also in striking distance. Bill Belichick is the NFL's all-time leader in playoff wins with 31 wins in 44 appearances. He gained the top spot in 2014 during New England's win over the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC title game. He won his last playoff game in 2018 when the Patriots last became Super Bowl champions.
Andy Reid is now in second place with 26 total playoff wins in 42 appearances after this latest postseason run from the Chiefs. He's ahead of some all-time greats like Tom Landry, Don Shula, Joe Gibbs, and Chuck Noll. Belichick isn't coaching in 2024, and even with his history, he might not get a head coaching job in the league again. That leaves a clear path for Reid to surpass him for the most postseason wins by a coach in NFL history. In a few years, he could even create a bit of distance, if Belichick doesn't return to the league.
There is also the combined wins record to consider, Shula (347) is first, Belichick (333) is second, followed by George Halas (324) and Reid is fourth (284). Should Reid surpass Shula in regular season wins and Belichick in postseason wins, he'll have 362 combined wins under his belt.
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