The Buffalo Bills have reportedly re-signed general manager Doug Whaley to a multi-year contract extension. No official announcement has yet been made, but WGR 550's Jeremy White was the first to report the deal, and WGRZ's Adam Benigni adds that it's a deal designed to expire at the same time that Rex Ryan's contract does.
I’m told the Bills are finalizing the language on a multi-year extension with Whaley. Sides have verbally agreed on terms.
— Jeremy White (@JeremyWGR) January 5, 2016
Can confirm @JeremyWGR report on Whaley extension that I'm told is designed to coincide with the remaining four years on Ryan's deal. @wgrz
— Adam Benigni (@AdamBenigni) January 5, 2016
Whaley has one year remaining on his current deal. Ryan signed a five-year deal, reportedly worth $27.5 million, to coach the Bills last January. If the two contracts are meant to expire at the same time, Whaley and Ryan will both be under contract through the end of the 2019 season.
All of this would appear to fly directly in the face of a report from The Buffalo News earlier on Tuesday, which said that Bills owner Terry Pegula had told both Whaley and Ryan that they'd be fired after the 2016 season if they don't make the playoffs next year. While it's still technically possible that such a stipulation exists, if informally, tying Whaley and Ryan together for four more years seems like a very odd way of enforcing that.
Again, none of this is official yet, but it's sounding a lot like the Whaley and Ryan relationship will continue past the 2016 season, regardless of the status of the team's playoff drought.