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The New York Giants are likely to retain embattled head coach Tom Coughlin, but a conference call originally scheduled for Tuesday afternoon to discuss his status was postponed as organizational meetings continued.

Coughlin will enter the final year of his contract in 2007 at a salary of $3 million, but speculation is that Giants ownership will extend his deal by at least one year to keep the veteran coach from being a lame duck. A source close to Coughlin told ESPN.com on Tuesday that he is "cautiously optimistic" the coach will be retained and that his contract will be extended.

Clayton's take
The fact that the decision-making process has dragged on is a good indicator for Tom Coughlin. Read more of John Clayton's Quick Hits.

But the postponement of the Tuesday conference call signaled there are still some elements to be resolved, possibly with the contract extension and also probably with staffing issues.

One assistant coach acknowledged Tuesday night that the staff remains in the dark about its future.

Coughlin dismissed offensive coordinator John Hufnagel before the team's final regular-season game. Quarterbacks coach Kevin Gilbride assumed the play-calling chores for that contest and Sunday's wild-card game defeat at Philadelphia. There are almost certain to be further staffing changes in the offseason.

In three seasons with the Giants, Coughlin has compiled a 25-23 record in the regular season and 0-2 record in playoff appearances. But New York suffered through a tumultuous 2006 campaign, losing six of its final eight games after starting the season 6-2 and barely earning a wild-card berth.

The season was marked by a crippling spate of injuries but also by open criticism of Coughlin and some assistant coaches from several of the team's highest profile veterans. Still, retaining Coughlin would provide stability to a team whose co-owners, Wellington Mara and Bob Tisch, died within weeks of each other in late 2005 and which will lose general manager Ernie Accorsi to retirement next week.

One person who won't be filling Accorsi's job, however, is Cowboys coach Bill Parcells, who reacted angrily Tuesday to a report that he he reached out to the Giants about the position.

"There is absolutely nothing to it," Parcells told the New York Daily News from Dallas. "Absolutely nothing. There has been no contact, either directly or through an intermediary. Whoever said it is a liar."

Senior writer Len Pasquarelli covers the NFL for ESPN.com.