Eagles’ Owner Gives Up Trying to Sign Vermeil

The on-again, off-again courtship between the Philadelphia Eagles and former Coach Dick Vermeil ended Saturday when team owner Jeffrey Lurie broke off negotiations.

Lurie said Vermeil did not move very far off his initial contract demand: a five-year deal worth $20 million and 5% of the team, to serve as coach and general manager.

Although a part of the team was never discussed in subsequent negotiations, Lurie maintained that the total financial compensation involved in Vermeil’s final proposal was far in excess of the money now being paid to the league’s top coaches.

Vermeil, who led the Eagles to the franchise’s only Super Bowl appearance after the 1980 season, retired from coaching in 1982, citing burnout. He has worked as a football analyst on television since then.