“Real Chance” John Harbaugh Doesn’t Sign Extension With Ravens, Finishes Out His Contract

Peter King reports that there’s a “real chance” John Harbaugh will not sign an extension with the Ravens, despite the team recently announcing that they plan to negotiate a new deal with him after the season.

According to King, Harbaugh could instead play out the final year of his contract and take his chances on the open market in 2020 or sign back with Baltimore.

King compares the situation to Joe Flacco betting on himself and ultimately winning the Super Bowl back in 2012.

King does, however, believe Harbaugh would like to remain in Baltimore, but he also “wouldn’t be heartbroken if he had to move on.” The expectation from King is that Harbaugh would likely be valued greater by another team.

Reports from the past month or so mentioned that the Ravens and Harbaugh were expected to part ways. However, the Ravens somewhat surprisingly announced that Harbaugh was going to return next year and they were opening extension talks.

Some questioned the time of the announcement from team, given that it was posted out of nowhere on a Friday.

Harbaugh was expected to be a top coaching candidate on the open market, which may have been why the Ravens wanted to announce he was remaining in Baltimore. They also had a big game coming up against the Chargers.

It’s still possible an interested team could reach out to the Ravens about a potential trade for their head coach, but it’s been a while since a move like this was made.

Harbaugh, 56, began his NFL coaching career with the Eagles in 1998 as their special teams coordinator and defensive backs coach. He spent 10 years in Philadelphia before he was hired as the Ravens’ head coach in 2008.

During his nine years with the team, Harbaugh has led them to a record of 103-72 (58.9 percent), which includes six playoff appearances and one Super Bowl championship in 2012.

We’ll have more regarding Harbaugh as the news is available.