As it becomes more and more clear that 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh will be coaching elsewhere in 2015, the floor for a potential trade to another NFL team was set back in February.
Per a league source, the trade that would have sent Harbaugh to the Browns would have resulted in a pair of third-round draft picks going to San Francisco.
That’s a far cry from the two first-round picks, two second-round picks, and $8 million that the Buccaneers gave the Raiders for Jon Gruden nearly 13 years ago. And it’s possible that, if multiple teams opt to pursue Harbaugh, the 49ers could get more that what they would have gotten from the Browns, if Harbaugh had decided to leave the Bay Area.
But he (more specifically, his wife) didn’t want to leave the Bay Area, which could put Harbaugh in play for the Raiders job. One league source tells PFT that Harbaugh would “love” to return to the Raiders, where his non-playing career began in 2002 and 2003 as the team’s quarterbacks coach.
Ultimately, the Raiders could give up a lot less to the 49ers to get Harbaugh than the Buccaneers gave up to get Gruden from the Raiders. Unless the Raiders can lure Gruden back to Oakland.