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Coughlin will cash in on Super Bowl

BY ARTHUR STAPLE | arthur.staple@newsday.com

February 6, 2008

Tom Coughlin may not have been able to plan for a day like yesterday, with a parade and a rally after his customary exit interviews with his players.

In fact, if he'd tried to plan this day months ahead, he might have been conducting his own exit interview. Instead, his agent, Gary O'Hagan, and Giants ownership are planning to begin contract-extension talks in the near future.

"There's no rush," team president John Mara said. "Tom's not going anywhere; we're not going anywhere. It will be done in due course."

Last January, Coughlin kept his job by a hair and got a one-year extension, through next season. That surely will be torn up in favor of what likely will be at least a four-year deal worth around $5 million a year, the going rate for championship coaches.

"Just like the other times, I don't really want to talk about it," Coughlin said.

He did manage to keep one long-scheduled appointment yesterday: a trip to the dentist. He drove off from Giants Stadium after the rally to have a cleaning, leaving his wife, Judy, and the rest of his family behind.

"It was on the schedule, so he went," Judy Coughlin said, smiling.

More money for Eli

Eli Manning scooped up an extra $500,000 for winning the Super Bowl, bringing his postseason bonus haul to $1.5 million. And he gets to do David Letterman's show tonight, after weather delays forced him to postpone a planned Monday appearance.

Manning walked away from the 2007 season with $15.5 million total - an $8.5-million bonus, paid out over this season and the next two, $5.5-million in salary and the playoff bonuses. That doesn't count any added marketing opportunities for being Super Bowl MVP.

His contract runs through 2009, and he's due to make $8.45 million in 2008 and $8.95 million in 2009. No extension talks have begun yet, but suddenly, those gaudy salaries don't seem so huge.