Photo: Paul Sakuma/AP
And so the Jim Harbaugh soap opera continues…
ESPN’s Chris Mortenson is reporting that Miami Dolphins majority owner Steve Ross, as well as general manager Jeff Ireland and former NFL executive Carl Peterson, have flown out to the West Coast in a desperate attempt to convince Harbaugh to become the Dolphins new coach.
Oh, and did I mention that Tony Sparano is still employed?
Earlier in the day Harbaugh met with the San Francisco 49ers for nearly five hours to discuss a possible future with the team. According to Mort, they were willing to offer Harbaugh $4.5 million, which is well under the reported $6.5 million that he is seeking.
Ross is willing to make Harbaugh the highest-paid coach in the NFL, which would place his salary in the $7-to-$8-million range, the sources said, after receiving a signal from the Stanford coach that he was now willing to listen seriously to the team’s presentation. (source: ESPN)
Ross is willing to make Harbaugh the highest paid coach in the NFL, which would be around $7 million per season.
Apprarently Harbaugh wasn’t thrilled with the idea of coming to Miami but he perhaps has a change of heart.
Initially, sources said Harbaugh was cool to Peterson’s approach on behalf of the Dolphins and Ross. But the Stanford coach’s interest grew warmer in the 48 hours after his Cardinals soundly defeated Virginia Tech with Ross among the spectators at Dolphins Stadium, sources said. Wooten said he also was told that Harbaugh was not very receptive to the Dolphins’ initial approach. (source: ESPN)
According to Jason LaCanfora, the Dolphins reached out to ESPN analyst and former NFL coach Jon Gruden and offered him $7 million per season, which he rejected to stay at ESPN.
The Dolphins also had interest in former Pittsburgh Steelers coach Bill Cowher and, LaCanfora reports, he was interested as long as he had complete control over football operations. That is something that Ross has been dead set against. He wants to keep Ireland as general manager. Harbaugh, if he comes to Miami, would have no problem keeping Ireland.
Stay tuned for all the latest developments in the Harbaugh saga.
Alyssa Barbieri can be reached at MadSportsGal06@aol.com or at Twitter.com/MadSportsGal or Facebook.com/MadSportsGal
