The 49ers may look at a trade with Jim Harbaugh after the season with the way San Francisco has performed in 2014 and teams like the Oakland Raiders, Cleveland Browns, NY Jets and Washington Redskins all could be interested, as they are teams that could potentially be making coaching changes after the season heading into 2015.
The 49ers have lost three games in a row for the first time under Harbaugh and now they will be missing the playoffs for the first time under the head coach as well. Harbaugh has been wildly successful in San Francisco, but according to reports from ESPN.com, the team is looking into making a change after the season and they could explore a trade to do it. Harbaugh has time left on his contract and Adam Schefter reported that a trade could happen, as the Oakland Raiders will be looking for a new head coach and should call about the possibility of a move after the season.
Schefter also added that the NY Jets will be interested in Harbaugh if they fire Rex Ryan and right now it looks like John Idzik will be making that move after the season. The Jets, Chicago Bears possibly and the Raiders all likely will need head coaches after the season and while Harbaugh is under contract, he will be a target. The Raiders make sense since they are in the Bay Area and Harbaugh could be a fit since he has the tough demeanor to take over a bad team and turn them around.
Harbaugh did that in San Fran and after some reports about issues with Harbaugh and the front office, he could get full power while taking over the Raiders, who have been a mess for years. The 49ers lost on Sunday to the Seahawks 17-7 and now they are out of the playoffs and Harbaugh has also received criticism this season for the perceived step back by Colin Kaepernick. The Niners rank 28th in passing yards this season and they have a loss to the Raiders on the schedule and that could be enough to get Harbaugh out.
The Giants were also considered a team that could go after Harbaugh, but after wins the past two weeks, it looks like Tom Coughlin will keep his job. The Niners needed to go 4-0 to end the season for any chance of making the playoffs and now they have lost three in a row for the first time under Harbaugh. The Browns tried trading for Harbaugh last year and while they have been satisfied with Mike Pettine, they could look at making a move again.
Harbaugh is considered to be a good coach for young QBs and after his work with Andrew Luck and Kaepernick, the Browns could look at bringing him in to work with Johnny Manziel. The Jets are in a similar situation, as they have Geno Smith and numerous questions heading into the offseason. The team is hoping to trade up for or to be in position to draft either Jameis Winston or Marcus Mariota next year in the draft. If Ryan is fired, expect the Jets also to make a call about Harbaugh.
