On Thursday, the NFL Network's Mike Garafolo reported that Philadelphia Eagles special teams coordinator Michael Clay interviewed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for their vacancy in the same role. According to Garafolo, the Eagles permitted Clay to speak with the Bucs about the opening, leaving Philly fans to wonder if a move south was about to happen.
At the time of Garafolo’s report, Eagles fans were puzzled by Philadelphia’s decision to do this, as the special teams unit wasn’t bad in 2025, despite some miscues from long-time kicker Jake Elliott. If there does need to be a change, most fans would point to the struggling leg first.
Nonetheless, it appears that Clay will not be going anywhere, which is great news for fans and Elliott, most importantly. On Sunday, it was revealed that Clay won't be going anywhere anytime soon.
"The Eagles and special teams coach Michael Clay have agreed to terms on a new deal for him to return to Philly," Garafolo and fellow NFL insider Ian Rapoport co-reported. "One of the more coveted ST coaches around, Clay drew significant interest around the league. But he elected to remain home."
The NFL insiders pointed out that Clay, whose contract expired with the Eagles, drew a lot of interest from around the league, but he decided to stay in Philadelphia.
Jake Elliott Gifted Another Chance with Michael Clay's Return
The last thing that the Eagles wanted to do was add a special teams coordinator to their offseason checklist on top of finding a new offensive coordinator.
Since they don’t have to do that, the next thing the Eagles and Clay must figure out is what to do with Elliott? Philadelphia could bring in another kicker in the offseason to compete with Elliott, who just signed a four-year, $24 million extension in Mar. 2024.
Or the Eagles could take the drastic route of moving on from Elliott, who has an out in his deal for 2026. This likely won’t happen despite his struggles, as Clay had nothing but positives to say about Elliott heading into the playoffs, per Cayden Steele of NJ.com.
"“Yeah, I don't know if correcting (Elliot's) issues is the right term... It's hard to kick in the NFL, especially here in the northeast... But having Jake (Elliott), a nine-year veteran, has plenty of huge kicks in this stadium, around the NFL. You're always going to feel confident when he is on your team, and he still exudes that confidence every day."Eagles STC Michael Clay
However, we saw Elliott miss a critical extra point early in the Eagles’ playoff loss last week to the San Francisco 49ers. If Elliott had converted it, Philadelphia would only have to settle for a field goal to tie the game since they were at the 49ers’ 21-yard line.
The 2025 season for Elliott was not great, as he made 74.1 percent of his field goals (20-of-27), which was the second-lowest mark of his career. The veteran kicker also struggled to make field goals from 40-plus yards out, going a disappointing 11-of-18 (61.1%).
In 2024, Elliott had similar issues from 40-plus yards out, making 9-of-16 field goals at a 56.3% clip. Most of those misses came from 50-plus yards away (1-for-7).
With that being said, the Eagles should bring in an undrafted free agent or a kicker from the UFL who has a huge leg and is accurate. This doesn’t mean Philly is parting ways with Elliott, but it might bring the best out of him for 2026, which Clay and Co. hope is the case.