INDIANAPOLIS -- For the second offseason in a row, New York Giants owner John Mara hinted that the team might depart from its long-held policy and allow coach Tom Coughlin to enter this season with only one year left on his contract. But for the second offseason in a row, it appears that was nothing more than noise. Coughlin strongly indicated Thursday that he and the Giants were nearing resolution on his contract situation, and the most likely outcome is that he gets a one-year extension just as he did last year to avoid a lame-duck situation.

One major reason this makes sense is that Coughlin's coordinators are both signed through 2016. Steve Spagnuolo got a two-year contract when he agreed to become the Giants' new defensive coordinator last month. And offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo, who signed a two-year deal last year, recently had another year added onto his deal as well, according to sources familiar with the situation. Those coordinator contracts are often treated as "rollover" deals, with either team options or mutual options to add a year to the deal as is deemed appropriate.

Obviously, it wouldn't make a lot of sense for a head coach to have only one year left on his deal while his coordinators each had two. So there was never any real doubt that Coughlin would end up signing an extension through 2016 at some point this offseason. Coughlin signed a three-year deal following the Giants' most recent Super Bowl title after the 2011 season. That deal was scheduled to run through 2014 but was extended last year to run through 2015, and it appears it will soon be extended again, if it hasn't been already.

That doesn't mean the Giants can't and won't make major changes to the coaching staff, including at head coach, if they have another bad year in 2015. The extension is a show of respect, and offers a coach who's become a franchise icon a nice financial cushion if he does lose his job a year from now.