Report: Rams' Sean McVay, Bengals' Zac Taylor in line for extensions

Rams HC Sean McVay and Bengals HC Zac Taylor, who will be squaring off in Super Bowl LVI on Sunday night, will be in line for contract extensions this offseason, per Adam Schefter of ESPN.com.

We had already heard that Cincinnati was planning a new deal for Taylor, who has only one year left on his contract. Schefter does, however, remind us that Taylor — the former McVay disciple — is presently the lowest-paid head coach in the NFL, with a $3.75M annual salary. Obviously, that will change soon.

McVay, meanwhile, was recently the subject of some idle speculation that he was contemplating leaving the coaching ranks, but he has put those rumors to bed. He is under contract through 2023 as a result of the extension he signed in 2019, a deal that elevated him from one of the league’s lowest-paid head coaches to a salary that, per Joe Rivera of the Sporting News, is believed to be in the $8.5M ballpark. Another extension might mean an eight-figure annual income for McVay.

The 36-year-old head coach has compiled a 55-26 regular-season record, three NFC West titles and two NFC championships during his five-year run. The success that he and his clubs have enjoyed have made other teams anxious to poach his staffers, and that has happened again in 2022, with offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell set to become head coach of the Vikings and secondary coach/passing-game coordinator Ejiro Evero heading to Denver to become the Broncos defensive coordinator.

As Schefter reports in a full-length piece, O’Connell is likely to bring Rams tight ends coach/passing-game coordinator Wes Phillips with him to Minnesota to serve as the Vikes offensive coordinator or passing-game coordinator. Schefter names Kentucky OC Liam Coen — a Rams staffer from 2018-20 — as a “prime candidate” to replace O’Connell, but RB coach Thomas Brown could also garner consideration for the soon-to-be-vacant OC job. Yet another candidate is Greg Olson, who spent the last four seasons as the Raiders OC but who was the Rams QB coach in 2017, McVay’s first season as HC.

Whether it’s to become Los Angeles’ new OC or to reprise his role as QB coach, Olson is expected to rejoin McVay’s staff in 2022.