ARIZONA CARDINALS

Report: San Francisco 49ers almost traded coach Jim Harbaugh

Feb 21, 2014, 10:01 PM | Updated: 11:42 pm

Go ahead and file this one away in the “are you serious” department.

According to ProFootballTalk.com, the San Francisco 49ers nearly traded head coach Jim Harbaugh to the Cleveland Browns.

A deal that would have sent multiple draft picks to San Francisco was in place between the teams. But Harbaugh ultimately decided not to leave the 49ers.

OK then.

The Browns ended up hiring Buffalo Bills’ defensive coordinator Mike Pettine, and that’s all well and good.

But the story here is the question everyone is probably asking: Why would the 49ers be interested in parting with a head coach who has guided them to three consecutive NFC Championship Games?

Maybe they didn’t.

Either way, chances are good the three other NFC West teams wouldn’t have cared about the why the deal was made.

After all, would anyone really have a problem with a coach who has accumulated a 36-11-1 record over three seasons leaving?

Probably not.

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Report: San Francisco 49ers almost traded coach Jim Harbaugh