The Giants appear to have caught another break in their pursuit of John Harbaugh.
The Green Bay Packers are expected to pursue a contract extension with Matt LaFleur that would secure his long-term future as the team’s head coach, according to ESPN.
LaFleur has one year remaining on his contract, and his job status came into question after the Packers blew an 18-point fourth-quarter lead in Saturday night’s 31-27 playoff loss to the Chicago Bears.
The 46-year-old LaFleur acknowledged Sunday that he would meet with Packers president Ed Policy soon, but he declined to make a public sales pitch for himself to return. Policy has said he would rather not have a lame-duck coach on a one-year contract.
“I don’t think those are questions for me,” LaFleur said. “I think my sole focus is just trying to find solutions to some of our issues and why things went awry.”
While there’s no guarantee an extension will be reached, Green Bay’s interest in keeping LaFleur is notable for the Giants because the Packers have been floated as a serious threat in the Harbaugh sweepstakes. Harbaugh’s agent, Bryan Harlan, is the son of Bob Harlan, a former Packers president.
If they were to part with LaFleur — who is 76-40-1 in seven seasons as head coach — the Packers would boast one of the most desirable head-coach vacancies, given their talented roster, recent success and status as one of the NFL’s marquee franchises.
As it stands now, the Giants are considered a frontrunner for Harbaugh, with the promise of 22-year-old quarterback Jaxson Dart among their best selling points.
The Giants hold one of the eight NFL head-coach openings, but that includes the Baltimore Ravens, who fired Harbaugh last week after 18 seasons in the role.
The others belong to the Tennessee Titans, Las Vegas Raiders, Atlanta Falcons, Arizona Cardinals, Cleveland Browns and Miami Dolphins.
The Dolphins were heavily linked to Harbaugh last week, but that was before Miami hired Jon-Eric Sullivan — and not Chad Alexander, a longtime Harbaugh associate — as their general manager.
More jobs could become open as the playoffs progress, but the Buffalo Bills won Sunday, guaranteeing Sean McDermott will remain their head coach for at least one more week. NFL Media reported McDermott was likely to return even before Sunday’s 27-24 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Harbaugh, a Super Bowl champion with a career record of 180-113, is the top candidate in a head-coaching market that also includes Kevin Stefanski, Mike McCarthy, Jeff Hafley and Jesse Minter.
