Hairball to the Browns - Almost

[Uppercut]

http://nfl.si.com/2014/02/21/jim-harbaugh-trade-cleveland-browns/

[RiverDog]

It would have been pretty damn stupid of the Browns to trade that kind of draft capital for a HC, especially considering how shallow the talent pool in Cleveland is.

[depaashaas]

I am glad it is not happening, even though I hate hairball and whiners. I want him to stay there. He has made the whiners as good as they are and Pete had to build a team that can take on the best and playing them twice a year is just great especially if you play them three times like last year, it would have been better if the Hawks would have beaten them three times but I settle for 2-1. I hope the resign him and this so called rivalry continues for many many years to come. I am pretty sure the rivalry will be there without him, just not as good with him...and sweeter if we beat them

[Eaglehawk]

If true it would have been a kick ass trade.

[Vegaseahawk]

Harbaugh had a hand in building the niners D, but he took over midway through the rebuilding project that Mike Singletary had a hand in. And, yeah, he is a good coach, but let's not give him any undeserved credit for the roster he coaches today. Mike "Big Boy Pants" Singletary deserves at least some of the credit for the current strength of the team.

[NorthHawk]

The 9ers were a pretty impressive collection of talent, but Singletary was out of his league in putting the pieces into the proper order. Harbaugh brought the proper style of leadership and enthusiasm, as well as organization for them to take a big step forward. But for 5 yards in the Super Bowl and a bad decision to challenge Sherm, he might have been a 2 time Super Bowl winner.
However, make no mistake, the previous assembly of talent was the major reason he had those opportunities.

[jshawaii22]

I thought it was a joke when I read it, but it seems to have some legs to it. That's the last thing I would want. If SFO got 2 high first round picks (I think that's what Oakland got for trading Gruden to Tampa) give or take...
That would not be good for us having to play against a further enhanced team. They are good enough as it is.

js

[depaashaas]

Harbaugh had a hand in building the niners D, but he took over midway through the rebuilding project that Mike Singletary had a hand in. And, yeah, he is a good coach, but let's not give him any undeserved credit for the roster he coaches today. Mike "Big Boy Pants" Singletary deserves at least some of the credit for the current strength of the team.

I would respectfully have to disagree with you. I don't know who singletary brought in as free agents but in his two years as head coach of his draft picks only 5 players are on current roster. Of hairball first draft 7 players are still there, sorry to much work to find out if they are actually starters or not. In hairball second draft there are still 6 players left on current roster. That makes over two seasons 5 to 13 in favor of hairball. Regardless of who drafted who, singletary went 5-4 (as interim coach) 8-8 and finished 5-10, hairball comes in goes 13-3, 11-4-1 and 12-4. hairball obviously is the better coach here. I do agree that most of the players were already in place but have those players play up to their potential like hairball make him a better coach, singletary lost quite a few games just because he made (more) stupid decisions.

[HumanCockroach]

A LOT of those players were in place, tons of talent, but that said I don't believe it was Singletary that had a huge hand in selecting those players, and obviously he had trouble winning with them. The Front office has done a good job before and after Harbaugh, and he certainly deserves a ton of credit for getting the pieces pulling in the same direction. I equate the pre Harbaugh Niners somewhat with the pre Whisenhunt Cardinals, the talent was there, but until there is a coach pushing them the right way, they are similar to teams like the Cowboys, Eagles etc that can't find that winning formula. Of course Harbaugh has been able to continue that success, and a big part of that is choosing who to let go, and who to keep, of which he HAS had a serious influence.

[obiken]

Too bad, he didn't go where good coaches go to die!!

[Vegaseahawk]

I made the point that Singletary deserves at least some of the credit for todays 49'ers. The points that were brought up in response to that post are all valid. I just don't believe that Harbaugh deserves all of the credit for bringing in all of the players on todays roster. I, too, don't feel like digging too deep to find the numbers to back up my statement. I was just saying that some of the payers that make the 49ers who they are, defensive players in particular, were brought in during the Singletary regime. That's not a denial of Harbaugh's skill as a motivator & coach. He is, no matter how much I hate him....I have to concede that point. If anyone wants to post numbers to refute my statement, feel free to do so. I will humbly concede the point. But I will continue to hate him with all the passion that any healthy Seahawks fan should feel.

[Zorn76]

The 49ers would have been Beyond Stupid if, in fact, this rumor was true. As it is, I don't buy any of it.

[RiverDog]

The 49ers would have been Beyond Stupid if, in fact, this rumor was true. As it is, I don't buy any of it.

I think it would be the Browns that would be the ones ending up with the short end of the stick. They cannot afford the draft capital as they are one of the worst teams in the league and who ever ended up being the head coach (turns out to be Mike Pettine), they need those picks to rebuild the team in the mold they want.

Singletary was not the primary architect of the 49'ers rebuild. Most of the established veteran players were from the Mike Nolan era.

[FolkCrusader]

It's interesting to read the opinions here on who gets credit for the state of the 49ers. It's certainly not clear what exactly happened in this proposed trade and we may never know. There is enough smoke to know that some sort of a trade proposal did happen and it was approved on the 49ers end of the deal by ownership. Personally I think you can take away a couple things from the report;

1. Ownership values Trent Baalke over Jim Harbaugh.
2. Harbaugh wants either the money or power (or both) that goes with total control of the team.
3. Trent Baalke is not interested in sharing power.

Hairball has made his play, unless he can convince the Yorks that he should control the team they are on a bumpy road from here on out.

Personally I think there were good things in the trade for the Browns and the 49ers. The Browns desperately need real football leadership in their organization. If they feel Harbaugh can be that guy (think our Pete Carroll) than a draft pick or two is great compensation for him. Honestly, he couldn't fail any worse than the last three administrations there. Banner was an absolute joke who turned the team in to k mart. The Walrus did draft some good players, but he failed to bring in what was needed, a franchise QB. At the same time, the writing is now likely on the wall for the 49ers. These two stags are not going to coexist in the forest. Stags always fight eventually. One of them gets run off.

[Zorn76]

It's interesting to read the opinions here on who gets credit for the state of the 49ers. It's certainly not clear what exactly happened in this proposed trade and we may never know. There is enough smoke to know that some sort of a trade proposal did happen and it was approved on the 49ers end of the deal by ownership. Personally I think you can take away a couple things from the report;

1. Ownership values Trent Baalke over Jim Harbaugh.
2. Harbaugh wants either the money or power (or both) that goes with total control of the team.
3. Trent Baalke is not interested in sharing power.

Hairball has made his play, unless he can convince the Yorks that he should control the team they are on a bumpy road from here on out.

Personally I think there were good things in the trade for the Browns and the 49ers. The Browns desperately need real football leadership in their organization. If they feel Harbaugh can be that guy (think our Pete Carroll) than a draft pick or two is great compensation for him. Honestly, he couldn't fail any worse than the last three administrations there. Banner was an absolute joke who turned the team in to k mart. The Walrus did draft some good players, but he failed to bring in what was needed, a franchise QB. At the same time, the writing is now likely on the wall for the 49ers. These two stags are not going to coexist in the forest. Stags always fight eventually. One of them gets run off.

Good stuff, FC, and it's your #1 point where I think the 49ers' ownership is making a mistake. While GM Tren Baalke has made some good picks, his last couple drafts have been sub par, even with very few holes to fill on their roster.

For as much as Harbaugh is disliked, particularly here, lol, he's really been the best acquisition SF has made in a long time from a coaching standpoint. If he were to go, that entire team would be in disarray. IMO, there isn't a single better fit for that team than JH.

I mean, who could they bring in, that's available, to make them any better? There are, in fact, only a handful of coaches in the NFL that are worth their salt. And we're fortunate to have one of them in Seattle as well.

[Eaglehawk]

It would have been great in my opinion to have Hairball go and see the wicked witch(team) of the West slowly melt before our eyes.

[briwas101]

There are good reasons why trades for coaches are rare, but this is one of the few times where it makes sense so I do believe the report is true.

When the coach and team are too far apart on salary, but the coach is high-profile enough to trade 1st rounders for and his new team meets his salary demands, that is the kind of situation where a trade makes sense.

It wouldn't surprise me if this was Baalke's way of saying, "you can have your money, but you have to coach in ohio to get it."

[RiverDog]

There are good reasons why trades for coaches are rare, but this is one of the few times where it makes sense so I do believe the report is true.

When the coach and team are too far apart on salary, but the coach is high-profile enough to trade 1st rounders for and his new team meets his salary demands, that is the kind of situation where a trade makes sense.

It wouldn't surprise me if this was Baalke's way of saying, "you can have your money, but you have to coach in ohio to get it."

I agree. It's possible that this story could have been leaked by the Niners for just that purpose. It's a pretty shrewd tactic if that's true.

[Eaglehawk]

Too bad, he didn't go where good coaches go to die!!

"When you wish upon a star, makes no difference WHERE you are".... Too bad the guy didn't end up in Cleveland.

[Distant Relative]

I don't think Hairball is on as solid ground in San Francisco as he may think he is. I've said it several times in the past.... the coach and the GM aren't seeing eye to eye and there is tension between them.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap200000 ... gh-to-stay

[Irish Greg 2.0]

Things have run amok in San Francisco...err, Santa Clara.

49ers will fall back.

[NorthHawk]

Things were so bad in Cleveland that PFT said (prior to the purge) that Banner had arranged it so the OC and DC reported to him and not the HC.

If it was at the time Harbaugh was approached, no wonder he said no.

[Zorn76]

I still take Jed York's word over anybody having anything to do with the Browns, including their owner. I don't think this was ever close to getting done, and highly doubt it reached a point to where JH was told it was his decision to make.

If nothing else, Cleveland is merely trying to make themselves relevant by pushing this story, along with purposefully issuing vague remarks pertaining to SF's interest.

[HumanCockroach]

Eh, something smells funny coming out of SF, and that is just fine with me. Obviously the FO and the coach have some issues dealing with each other, doubt that affects them all that much. Either way there's trouble down there, and I am not sold Harbaugh gets the extension he expects, unless he wins a SB, no matter how many Championship games he coaches.

[Hawktawk]

Listening to the comments on NFL Network last evening it is clear there were legitimate discussions between the Browns and Niners. It was also mentioned that Harbaugh had flirted with Texas before being the one who ultimately decided against either job switch. There was the suggestion that Harbaugh wears out his players and coaches with his high strung personality. And obviously the GM doesn't get along with him.No way can this help the team.
I love all of this personally, I have no interest in some hot rivalry for years to come. Id rather the 9ers were in the cellar permanently, I frigging hate them. Seattle has enough to worry about in our own division without the 9ers team being any better than they already are. Id like 3 or 4 Lombardi's with this current crop of talent and having the 9ers fall off a cliff makes it that much easier to secure HFA and another trip back to the dance next year.

[Irish Greg 2.0]

I still take Jed York's word over anybody having anything to do with the Browns, including their owner. I don't think this was ever close to getting done, and highly doubt it reached a point to where JH was told it was his decision to make.

If nothing else, Cleveland is merely trying to make themselves relevant by pushing this story, along with purposefully issuing vague remarks pertaining to SF's interest.

I don't know. I think York is doing damage control and PR work here.

[NorthHawk]

Whatever is going on, it sure is fun!

[RiverDog]

Whatever is going on, it sure is fun!

The 49'ers had better be careful. They all seem pretty smug down there IMO, and the division isn't getting any easier. It won't take a very big bump in the road to upset the apple cart.