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- ESPN reported on Nov. 30 that the Oakland Raiders and New York Jets are eyeing Jim Harbaugh.
- Either of the two teams could acquire the San Francisco 49ers head coach via a trade.
- Harbaugh is 43-16-1 in four seasons as 49ers head coach.
The Oakland Raiders and New York Jets are two teams which could possibly acquire San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh via a trade, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on Sunday.
Could Jim Harbaugh possibly wind up with either the Oakland Raiders or New York Jets?
ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter‘s sources told him on Nov. 30 that this /4/be possible via a trade with Harbaugh’s current team, the San Francisco 49ers:
“No matter how tenuous the San Francisco 49ers’ situation currently is, the fate of coach Jim Harbaugh won’t be resolved until after this season, according to sources.
“If the 49ers can pull off a 4-0 finish to the regular season and make a run in the postseason that some in the organization are still convinced is possible, Harbaugh could land a contract extension, sources said.
“He will have one year remaining on his existing deal but has already rebuffed extension offers.
“It is no secret that Harbaugh will be a commodity that interests other teams at season’s end, like he did last season with the Cleveland Browns — the 49ers even considered trading Harbaugh to Cleveland.
“The Oakland Raiders and New York Jets both are expected to, at the very least, inquire about Harbaugh’s availability in a trade, a source said.
“One NFL source is convinced the Raiders are the favorite to land Harbaugh, but the Jets also are known to be keeping a close eye on Harbaugh’s situation.”
The San Jose Mercury News‘ Tim Kawakami chimes in on the trade rumors surrounding Harbaugh:
“ESPN’s Adam Schefter and FOX’s Jay Glazer reported that there will be teams that want to trade for Harbaugh after this season, that this is a likely way this could be determined, and that the Raiders and Jets would be foremost among them.
“Schefter and Glazer didnt’ exactly report what 49ers management thinks of those destinations, but we can guess since since we can also guess where this is coming from.
The Raiders are reportedly considered favorite to trade for Jim Harbaugh this offseason. http://t.co/eLdzLjNNTR pic.twitter.com/U2Ra7yDCVM— theScore (@theScore) November 30, 2014
“Some thoughts on this:
“You can’t trade a coach to a team he doesn’t want to coach — and as Matt Maioco of CSN Bay Area noted, why would Harbaugh sign off on a deal that would weaken his new team (by giving up prime draft picks or players)?
“He wouldn’t.
“Point of fact: Harbaugh’s contract is with the 49ers and can’t be transferred to another team without his agreement.
“That means Harbaugh can force Jed York and Trent Baalke to let him coach it out in 2015 for the remaining $5M or fire him.
“And if it comes to that, the middle ground is that Harbaugh finds the right team to move to and then that team and York and Baalke begin negotiations on fair trade compensation.
“Which might not be as much as you think because: 1) Harbaugh only has one year left on his deal and 2) Again, he controls where he can and cannot go and can force the 49ers to fire him if there’s no agreement, so he has the leverage here and wouldn’t want his new team surrendering much of value.
“Plus, I don’t think the 49ers would look for that much, anyway. York and Baalke were happy to engage Cleveland in trade talks last February and at that point I don’t think they were looking for that much, and that was with a team that just lost in the NFC title game.
“So this off-season, I’d expect the 49ers for something less than a 1st rounder, probably.
“The possible complication is that I doubt York wants to see Harbaugh coaching the Raiders, wherever they end up playing in 2015 — and remember, there is a possibility the Raiders play in Santa Clara for a few years.
“Harbaugh coaching the Raiders in Santa Clara? This is NOT what Jed York wants, though who knows, he might tweet something to clarify all this.”
The 50-year-old Harbaugh has amassed a 43-16-1 (.729) win-loss-tie record in four seasons with the San Francisco 49ers through Dec. 1, per Pro-Football-Reference.com.
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