With six NFL teams seeking new head coaches this offseason, we might see a rare coach trade in 2025.
NFL Network has reported that “multiple teams” are considering trading for Minnesota Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell, and Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles has not ruled out the possibility of trading for a coach.
It doesn’t happen often, but trading for a coach is not unprecedented in the NFL.
So with the possibility of a coach trade on deck in 2025, we’re taking a look back at eight other times it has happened in NFL history.
Note that this is not an exhaustive list of every coach trade in pro football history, but it includes eight examples of coach trades since the league’s NFL/AFL merger in 1970.
1. Don Shula: 1970
The Dolphins poached Shula from the Colts before the 1970 season. It wasn’t originally a trade, but the NFL ruled that Miami violated tampering rules and made the team send a first-round pick to Baltimore in exchange for the coach’s rights. The trade ended up working out well for all parties involved.
2. Bill Parcells: 1997
After he stepped down from his role with the Patriots, the Jets found a roundabout way to hire Parcells without breaking NFL rules by initially saying he wasn’t the head coach. New England didn’t buy it and NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue stepped in to broker a deal that saw New York trade first-, second-, third- and fourth-round draft picks to the Patriots over the next two years in exchange for Parcells’ head coach rights. It was a complicated ordeal, one that Parcells regrets in hindsight.
3. Mike Holmgren: 1999
The Seahawks poached Holmgren from the Packers by luring him away with a big contract and general manager duties in addition to his head coach role. Because he still had one year left on his contract with Green Bay, Seattle had to trade a second-round pick to the Packers.
4. Bill Belichick: 2000
In 2000, the Patriots agreed to trade first-, fourth- and fifth-round draft picks to the Jets in exchange for Belichick. The trade received bad reviews in the press at the time, but it turned out to be a brilliant move for New England as Belichick went on to win six Super Bowls with the Patriots.
5. Jon Gruden: 2002
The Buccaneers agreed to trade two first-round and two second-round picks plus $8 million to the Raiders in exchange for Gruden in 2002. When Gruden later returned to the Raiders in 2018, he claimed that he never wanted to leave. The trade worked out for Gruden and Bucs, though, as they won Super Bowl XXXVII in Gruden’s first year with the team.
6. Herm Edwards: 2006
The Chiefs traded a fourth-round pick to the Jets for Edwards in 2006. New York used that pick to select running back/kick returner Leon Washington. Kansas City then went 15-33 in three years before firing Edwards in 2009.
7. Bruce Arians: 2019
Arians stepped down from his head coach job with the Cardinals in 2017. Two years later, he decided to return to coaching and joined the Buccaneers. Because he was still under contract with Arizona, Tampa Bay sent a sixth-round pick to the Cardinals in exchange for Arians and a seventh-round pick. He won Super Bowl LV with the Bucs in his second season on the job.
8. Sean Payton: 2023
The Broncos agreed to trade first- and second-round picks to the Saints in 2023 in exchange for Payton and a third-round draft pick. After taking a break from coaching in 2022, Payton went 8-9 in his first season in Denver and then made the playoffs in 2024 with a 10-7 record.
The trade that didn’t happen: Jim Harbaugh in 2014
The Browns “made a real play” for then-49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh in 2014, offering a pair of third-round picks, according to Sports Illustrated‘s Albert Breer. Harbaugh himself ultimately decided against the trade, and he eventually become Michigan’s head coach in 2015. Harbaugh later returned to the NFL with the Los Angeles Chargers in 2024.
