Will Jim Harbaugh finally return to the NFL next year? That remains to be determined. However, the path might not be as complicated as it was a few weeks ago.
Via Jay Glazer of Fox, teams initially had concerns about Harbaugh and the sign-stealing investigation.
“As the last couple weeks have gone, that has just completely changed,” Glazer said. “All the teams I’ve talked to said, ‘You know what, regardless of what we hear in that investigation, that’s not going to affect the way we look at Jim Harbaugh, if he wants to come back and coach in the NFL. I absolutely think, for the NFL, they’ve kind of moved on from this.”
It’s one thing for the NFL teams to not be bothered by the situation. It’s quite another for the league office to not be concerned. The league’s in-house TV network already has pushed the idea that 345 Park Avenue will respect whatever suspension the NCAA potentially imposes on Harbaugh — even though there’s no specific NFL rule that Harbaugh would have even violated.
That’s the real question. Will a team hire Harbaugh to be the coach despite the vague notion that the league could suspend him? And would a team be willing to be without Harbaugh for a specific number of games in his first season?
Then there’s the question of whether Harbaugh or the team that hires him would push back, even if it means going to court. That could depend on who hires him.
If, for example, the Raiders become Harbaugh’s next NFL destination, maybe Mark Davis will take a page from his father’s playbook and file an antitrust lawsuit challenging what arguably would be an effort by the league to yet again make up the rules as it goes.
