Mike Macdonald’s future contract extension’s floor set by John Harbaugh’s new deal

Now is the time to be grateful that there’s no salary cap for the coaching staff in the NFL.

The price of an elite head coach is going up, courtesy of the New York Giants and John Harbaugh, who are in the process of hammering out the finer points of a massive deal. The Giants, who have been searching for a worthwhile coach since Tom Coughlin’s departure after 2015, are backing up the Brink’s truck to secure the services of John Harbaugh.

Per reports, the five-year deal will be worth upwards of $20 million per season, setting up a nine-figure contract that is very rare in the world of NFL coaching. While the public is often not made aware of the exact details of coach contracts, it is generally believed that Andy Reid and Sean Payton are the current market-setters at just about $20 million.

So there’s a chance Harbaugh will become the new highest paid coach in the league with this deal. It’s an understandable decision for the Giants, who have a decent setup of young talent in Jaxson Dart, Cam Skattebo, Malik Nabers, and Abdul Carter, but need the right coach to hammer it all into an actually good team. And there was certainly a bidding war for his services.

At the same time, let’s get some perspective. We’re not talking about prime Bill Belichick here. John Harbaugh has a strong resume from his time in Baltimore, with 180 regular season and 13 postseason wins across 18 seasons, but in recent seasons he has been more defined by playoff disappointments than anything else.

The 2019 and 2023 Ravens both had incredible regular seasons, winning 14 and 13 games respectively and earning the #1 seed, only to win a combined one playoff game. Since 2015, the Ravens have a total of three playoff victories, despite being generally considered to be one of the model NFL franchises with plenty of talent passing in and out of the roster.

We’re a long way removed from early Harbaugh, who won ten playoff games in his first seven seasons, including a Super Bowl. Clearly, he can coach in this league, but his resume is lacking a recent breakthrough.

It makes one wonder what a truly elite coach, with a track record of elite recent results, might command on a new deal. For instance, a coach who spent most of his formative years on the staff in Baltimore under John Harbaugh.

And that brings us to the Seahawks, who thankfully don’t have to worry about this for a while. In early 2024, Mike Macdonald signed a six-year contract with the Seahawks to become their head coach, meaning we’re still quite a ways away from having to think about re-upping him. But when that day comes, it sure looks like he’ll be leaving deals like this one in the dust.

Ten wins in his first season with a team largely inherited from Pete Carroll. Fourteen wins and the top seed in the best division in football in his second season, including the #1 defense in the league. If he can maintain something even close to that level of success over the next couple years, I imagine he’ll be offered a blank check by the Seattle ownership.

Could we be talking $25 million a year? $30 million? Keep in mind that extension talks are years away, so there’s plenty of time for other appealing coaches to get deals and extensions that exceed Harbaugh’s and drive up the market. Sean Payton should be up for a new deal in a couple years, and given what he’s done in Denver you could easily be looking at a new market-setter.

Macdonald’s current contract is believed to be around $9 million a year, which set a new precedent for first-time coaches, but is almost certainly going to be nothing in comparison to what comes next. All we can do is hope that, when the time comes, ownership is ready to pony up, because right now I doubt there’s anyone that Seahawks fans would rather have as coach.

John Harbaugh has set the market...for now. — Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh reacts on the field before the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

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