Whenever a new head coach and/or general manager takes over an organization, it’s human nature for the players brought in by the previous regime to feel uneasy and start to worry about their future with the club. In the cutthroat and ego-driven business that the NFL is, it’s understandable for someone to not trust the new guys right away and fear that they’ll be replaced by a crop of players who were hand-picked by the new regime.
One way that first-year head coaches and GMs can reassure that they’re committed to the guys who were on the roster before they got there is by handing out a few contract extensions.