Harbaugh's history of never staying in one place very long, his abrasive nature, his difficult relationship with his GM, the fact that the best team in the NFL is a threat in the division, the fact that there is some friction in contract negotiations... it makes a lot of sense to me that he'd want to leave. Jim Harbaugh reminds me a lot of Lou Pinella. No doubt brilliant at what he did and famous for his outbursts of emotion, but he never stayed anywhere too long and when the Mariners sensed a rising tide from the rest of their division, Pinella wanted out. Strained relations with his FO expedited his exit. Seeing a lot of the same things here.
As much as I enjoy having Seattle beat the 49ers and seeing Harbaugh's GIFable face twist and scowl, even an RG3 trade type draft haul would probably not counterbalance the loss of Harbaugh for SF. Every facet of that team works because of what he does as coach. In particular, I could see QB becoming a big problem for SF if Harbaugh leaves. If Harbaugh left, it would be the single best thing to happen to Seahawks fans since PC/JS were hired.
He didn't get traded, but here were some of the positives I took from this:
-If story is true, then the Browns nearly succeeded. That might embolden teams looking for coaches next offseason to make another run at Harbaugh. If story is true, then Harbaugh wants a fresh start. I actually can't say I blame him.
-Pretty much impossible to deny tension between Harbaugh and Baalke now. We've seen firsthand how that worked in Seattle with Ruskell and Holmgren. Seattle cut promising future stars like Michael Bennett and Jason Babin because of HC/FO disputes. Wouldn't be surprised if we see the same in SF. (Baalke is not the greatest GM anyway, but Harbaugh truly is a stud of a coach. Baalke really needs to know his place.)
-Could SF be dumb enough to let Harbaugh hit FA in a couple years? Why play hardball? Harbaugh truly is the best coach in the NFL, or at least in the discussion. He deserves to be paid like it, without hesitation. It's not like his salary counts against the cap. It's mind-numbingly stupid that he wasn't given the NFL's top contract instantly without blinking. Why insult your coach to save pennies on the dollar? This makes no sense at all, unless the powers that be are just plain incompetent, OR, they are concerned about Harbaugh reciprocating the long term commitment to the 49ers.
-My biggest fear about Harbaugh was his youth. I was afraid of him being in SF for 20+ years and dominating the division after Pete Carroll retires. That scenario where Harbaugh becomes the longest tenured HC in modern NFL history is starting to look a lot less likely.