Philadelphia Eagles Make Chip Kelly One of NFL's Highest-Paid Coaches

Well the Philadelphia Eagles have certainly put their money where their hype is.  

The Eagles showed they have complete confidence in their bold, big-name hire Chip Kelly. On Sunday, they made Kelly one of the highest-paid coaches in the NFL. 

From Adam Schefter of ESPN: 

"

Eagles made Kelly one of 10 highest paid NFL coaches, giving him a 5-yr deal worth right around $32.5 million, an average of $6.5m per year.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 20, 2013"

So now Kelly has to prove he was worth all of the hype and all of the money in a city that is traditionally hard on its coaches and athletes. That would unravel more than a few folks if things didn't go well out of the gate. Thankfully for Kelly, he seems to be made of sterner stuff.

You could interpret this contract in one of two ways.

The first is that the Eagles are paying Kelly quite handsomely and expect results immediately.

If Kelly keeps some of the higher paid veterans on this team or the team renegotiates their contracts—I'm looking at you, Nnamdi Asomugha—it means the expectations for the Eagles will be a playoff run in the next year or two. There is talent on this roster to compete.

The second interpretation is that the Eagles are going to give him several years to reboot the organization and build his own team.

If a lot of the older players get cut, the team drafts a quarterback with the No. 4 pick or even if Kelly hires a defensive coordinator who changes the defensive alignment to a 3-4, it might give a better indication that the Eagles are going to be patient with Kelly's rebuild of the organization.

Of course, let's not get ahead of ourselves—Kelly doesn't even have a staff yet. According to Schefter, it looks as though Kelly will bring on Pat Shurmur to be his offensive coordinator, but the more intriguing position—his defensive coordinator—has yet to be filled.

But you can bet the $32.5-million-dollar man knows he needs to nail that selection. The pressure is building, after all.