OWINGS MILLS, Md. -- The Baltimore Ravens reached a three-year contract extension with coach John Harbaugh on Friday, which maintains continuity for one of the most stable franchises in the NFL.
The new deal keeps Harbaugh under contract with the team through the 2028 season.
Harbaugh, 62, was entering the final year of a contract that he signed in March 2022. The Ravens have never let him start a regular season on the final year of his contract since he was hired in 2008.
He is the team's all-time winningest head coach with a 185-115 record over 17 seasons. Harbaugh guided the Ravens to a Super Bowl title in 2012, and his 12 playoff berths are the second most in the league behind Andy Reid (14) since he arrived in Baltimore.
Harbaugh is the second-longest tenured NFL coach behind the Steelers' Mike Tomlin, who completed his 18th season in Pittsburgh. No other coach has been with his current team for more than 12 years.
An extension between Harbaugh and the Ravens had been expected. Shortly after Baltimore's season ended with a 27-25 divisional round loss in Buffalo in late January, Harbaugh said he wasn't worried about his contract status.
This past season, Harbaugh led Baltimore to its second straight AFC North title despite an 0-2 start, which included a home loss to the 4-13 Las Vegas Raiders. He also helped first-year defensive coordinator Zach Orr bounce back from some early-season struggles by adding Dean Pees as a senior adviser.
Harbaugh's strength of keeping his team even keel came into play at the end of last season, when Baltimore fell to 8-5 heading into the bye and trailed first-place Pittsburgh by two games with four weeks remaining. The Ravens then rebounded to win their last four games of the regular season by a combined score of 135-43.
But playoff success has been a challenge lately, even with one of the top players in the NFL in quarterback Lamar Jackson. Under Harbaugh, the Ravens have advanced past the divisional round only once since winning the Super Bowl 12 seasons ago.
The Ravens have become one of the most sound franchises since relocating from Cleveland in 1996. Over the past 29 years, the Ravens have had three head coaches (Ted Marchibroda, Brian Billick and Harbaugh), two general managers (Ozzie Newsome and Eric DeCosta) and two owners (Art Modell and Steve Bisciotti).
When the Ravens hired Harbaugh in 2008, he was considered an outside-the-box hire because his expertise had been on special teams. In replacing Billick, Harbaugh changed the culture and turned the Ravens into a perennial Super Bowl contender.
Using bold decisions and a team-first mentality, Harbaugh has led Baltimore to a .617 win percentage -- including the playoffs -- and has guided the Ravens to six AFC North titles, two No. 1 seeds and four trips to the AFC Championship Game. The Ravens have had just two losing seasons under Harbaugh, when his starting quarterbacks Joe Flacco and Jackson suffered season-ending injuries in 2015 and 2021.
With Harbaugh's new deal, the Ravens removed one of the bigger question marks surrounding the championship-caliber team. By returning 19 starters, the Ravens have the third-best odds to win the Super Bowl this season (+650), according to ESPN BET.