John Harbaugh is waiting patiently before coaching interviews.The Bills and Packers should take note

When John Harbaugh was fired by the Baltimore Ravens on Tuesday, the dismissal carried the air of Andy Reid to it.

Famously, Reid was fired by Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie on Dec. 31, 2012. The dismissal followed an impressive 14-year run that took the franchise to the playoffs nine times and featured 10 postseason wins and one Super Bowl appearance. Eventually, Reid was cut loose by the Eagles after missing the postseason in back-to-back years, instantly becoming the cornerstone candidate in a field of head coaching searches that included, among others, then-Oregon head man Chip Kelly (arguably the hottest name in college football) and a feisty Indianapolis Colts interim by the name of Bruce Arians. But even in a field that had some intriguing options, Reid's resume, accomplishments and demeanor instantly elevated him.

He was out of work for four days.

Setting aside multiple interview requests, Reid had a nine-hour meeting with the Kansas City Chiefs' top brass inside a Philadelphia airport conference room. When he exited, Reid had his next job. He canceled his other flights and would be announced within days, providing the quintessential snapshot of how quickly NFL teams swoop in when a coach of great magnitude hits the open market.

John Harbaugh - who coached under Reid with the Eagles for eight years - is that kind of coach, touting 180 wins in his 18 seasons with the Baltimore Ravens. He also has one Super Bowl victory with Joe Flacco at quarterback, 12 playoff appearances, 11 seasons with double-digit wins and four AFC title game appearances. He was also AP Coach of the Year in 2019.

This collective track record, including a team culture capable of weathering a damning Ray Rice domestic violence investigation in 2015, is coveted by NFL ownership circles. A coaching and leadership reputation like this is what made Reid unemployed for all of four days. And it's what Harbaugh could have seized upon quickly following his Tuesday dismissal, maybe even having another job by as early as Friday.

Curiously, he has paused.

John Harbaugh's run during the Lamar Jackson era included a trip to the AFC championship game in the 2023 season. (Karl Merton Ferron/The Baltimore Sun/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)Baltimore Sun via Getty Images

One day after his departure from the Ravens, Harbaugh's agent Bryan Harlan had already received calls from more teams than actual head coaching openings - which meant that at least one or two franchises with head coaches still in place were peeking in on Harbaugh's potential interest in their team. But rather than immediately hit the road and get himself in front of NFL team owners or their search groups, Harbaugh's camp put out the message that official interviews wouldn't commence until the following week at the earliest.

What is the motivation behind the patience?

I spoke to two agents with coaching candidates who have already drawn their own interview interest this cycle and each suggested an obvious design was in play: Harbaugh doesn't yet know the entire field of opportunity in front of him. That point was never more salient than when the Miami Dolphins reversed course on head coach Mike McDaniel, suddenly firing him after Harbaugh became available despite McDaniel having met with team owner Stephen Ross about his return, conducting a season-closing news conference with media, and completing exit interviews with his players.

When Harbaugh became available, McDaniel's job suddenly and curiously wasn't anymore with the Dolphins.

The same fate could be in play for some current playoff coaches.

I'm sure they're waiting to see what happens with [the] Buffalo [Bills]," one coaching agent said.

You're leaving out the [Green Bay] Packers," added another.

Clearly, Bills head coach Sean McDermott and Packers head coach Matt LaFleur have distinct pressure on them heading into this weekend.

LaFleur is heading into the final year of his contract in Green Bay in 2026 after not getting his deal extended by new president Ed Policy last offseason. The extension issue initially seemed to be a matter of hard negotiation, with LaFleur's current $5 million salary lagging badly behind some far less successful contemporaries. Pegged as the 19th-highest head coaching salary in the league by Front Office Sports, LaFleur reportedly earned less in 2025 than three first-year (and first time) head coaches: the Jacksonville Jaguars' Liam Coen ($10 million per season); the New York Jets' Aaron Glenn ($12 million) and the Chicago Bears' Ben Johnson ($13 million). He's also last in the NFC North, behind Johnson, the Minnesota Vikings' Kevin O'Connell ($13 million) and the Detroit Lions' Dan Campbell ($11 million).

That wide financial disparity was already setting up a difficult extension negotiation coming into this season - and that was before the Packers spent their offseason making some all-in moves to push Green Bay into the Super Bowl favorite conversation. Chief among them, the acquisition of defensive end Micah Parsons. Now, with Green Bay suffering some key injuries and a late-season fade into the playoffs, there will be on-field questions about LaFleur's ability to overcome adversity, too. In the macro, his 76-40-1 record is impressive, but in the micro of the past four seasons, he's 37-30-1 and has one playoff win. Here's another way to say it: his best years with Aaron Rodgers are starting to fade.

That doesn't make Green Bay an automatic to move on from LaFleur if the Packers lose in Chicago on Saturday, but it creates room for the conversation.

There also would be two fairly significant caveats for a Harbaugh pursuit that would seem to make him a distant candidate for the Packers: Harbaugh could command a salary in the range of $20 million per season at his next stop, and it's believed he wants control of the 53-man roster and influence in the personnel department, too. It seems highly unlikely Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst would surrender that kind of power to anyone at this point.

The Bills could be a bit of a different animal. Head coach Sean McDermott is carrying a hefty red flag with his 0-5 road playoff record, with three of them coming at the hands of the Chiefs, and the other two against the Houston Texans and Jacksonville Jaguars. Should McDermott lose Sunday to the Jaguars and Coen, it's going to represent another burned season of Josh Allen's prime heading into an offseason when he turns 30. It also won't be forgotten that even with the Bills not fielding their strongest team historically, they're staring at an AFC playoff field that lacks Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow. While the Bills are hardly perfect, there's little question the opportunity is there for the veteran coach and still MVP-level quarterback to seize, particularly with the Bills fielding a strong running game and an offensive coordinator in Joe Brady who is getting calls about head coaching interviews.

Should McDermott and the Bills flop against Jacksonville - which would reignite questions about McDermott's job - Buffalo could arguably represent the best landing spot in the market heading into the 2026 season, with a new stadium opening and a win-now group of veterans surrounding Allen on offense. Buffalo's salary cap is hardly perfect, with the Bills existing in the league's lower-third in space, but that can be adjusted through work on a few big deals on the roster. The Bills also have most of the vast majority of their most important draft capital in hand, giving the team flexibility to invest into a defensive unit that needs it.

Even if McDermott fails to come out of Sunday's game with a win, the Bills job has hurdles for ownership. General manager Brandon Beane and McDermott have contracts through the 2027 season. Beane also has full control over personnel and the 53-man roster. It's highly unlikely he'd willingly surrender part of that control to Harbaugh. But that could also change depending on precisely what the Jacksonville game looks like. If it's a Jaguars onslaught, a lot of avenues could be put onto the table.

For now, the conditions with other franchises continue to line up best for teams like the New York Giants and Miami Dolphins, even with Miami having hired Jon-Eric Sullivan as its general manager Friday. Both the Giants and Dolphins would be willing to pay a hefty salary to draw in Harbaugh, and both have some upside as jobs although Miami is a significantly heavier lift in terms of cleaning up the roster than New York. Ironically, the best head coaching job that's open in the NFL is likely Harbaugh's old seat with the Ravens. And one that might have more potential than many realize is the team Harbaugh grew up rooting for in the Cleveland Browns.

Whatever path he chooses, the point is that for now, Harbaugh has the leverage. He could choose virtually any open destination. Or he could go the Sean Payton route and take a year off and do highly paid and highly visible analyst work, while being patient for the perfect landing spot. He has the cards.

He knows it. NFL teams know it. Next week, we'll see how he plays them.