We’ve got another potential source off between Ian Rapoport and Adam Schefter regarding John Harbaugh.
Earlier this week, Rapoport declared that Harbaugh had lost the locker room in Baltimore. Schefter said that “couldn’t be any less true.”
Now, as to one of Harbaugh’s potential destinations, Rapoport said before Saturday night’s Packers-Bears playoff game that coach Matt LaFleur and the Packers plan to discuss an extension after the season ends, and that LaFleur “is not going to be judged on these four quarters of football.”
Then came those four quarters of football, capped by two disastrous ones. Which opens the door for the Packers to change their plans.
On Sunday’s ESPN Postseason NFL Countdown, Schefter addressed LaFleur’s status. Schefter said new team CEO Ed Policy now has a “significant decision to make” about LaFleur, whose contract runs through 2026. Schefter also echoed something we’ve been discussing all week. John Harbaugh’s agent, Bryan Harlan, is the son of former Packers CEO Bob Harlan. And Harbaugh, who has many suitors, could choose the Packers, if the Packers job is open.
The threshold question is whether Policy would move on from LaFleur only if Policy knows he can get Harbaugh. An arrangement like that would violate the spirit of the Rooney Rule, but that happens all the time. Plenty of owners fire coaches knowing who they’re going to hire next, and then they check the boxes and bide their time and hire the person they damn well want to.
If Policy is comfortable with the possibility of not getting Harbaugh and not comfortable with the reality of keeping LaFleur after night’s debacle, it won’t matter if there isn’t a wink-nod in place with Bob Harlan’s son about Jim Harbaugh’s brother.
Regardless, and as Schefter said, Policy has a major decision to make. And if LaFleur is ultimately available, he’ll become one of the hottest candidates for one of the other eight vacancies.
