The New York Giants find themselves at a franchise-defining crossroads, and the smoke surrounding their pursuit of John Harbaugh is reaching a fever pitch. To get the pulse on how realistic this blockbuster move actually is, I sat down with Ian O’Connor of The Athletic on the latest episode of the Fireside Giants podcast.
O’Connor, who has spent decades uncovering the inner workings of the NFL’s most storied franchises, provided an inside look into the Giants’ pursuit of Harbaugh.
The Giants and John Harbaugh Have Mutual Interest
The interest between Harbaugh and the New York Giants is undoubtedly mutual.
“He’s the Giants’ leading candidate, I think that’s clear… and John has a lot of interest in the Giants. He really understands and respects the history of the franchise. He has a lot of respect and admiration for John Mara,” O’Connor shared.
“… He likes Jaxson Dart. I know he’s studying him right now, along with the other quarterbacks he’s considering teaming up with… The appeal of Jaxson Dart is strong… When you have a dynamic young quarterback in the biggest market in the country, with a franchise that is considered a storied franchise… An owner who’s respected all over the league in John Mara. That’s a pretty good combination, so I think it’s a strong lure for Harbaugh.
“…I think that Harbaugh has the Giants at the top of his list right now. That could change, though. He’s studying the tape as we speak.”
Would Joe Schoen Prevent a Harbaugh Hiring?
There is a concern among some New York Giants fans that the presence of general manager Joe Schoen could get in the way of the Giants hiring Harbaugh. O’Connor doesn’t suspect that to be the case, however, despite some rumors indicating Harbaugh might want to hand-pick his own general manager.
“I don’t suspect Joe Schoen is going to get in the way of hiring John Harbaugh in terms of what say he needs of personnel,” O’Connor stated.
Perhaps the most intriguing nugget from my conversation with Ian involves the structural hierarchy in the Giants’ front office. Harbaugh likely won’t settle for being just a whistle-blower on the sidelines — he will want a say in the roster’s construction.
“John Harbaugh knows what a consistent winning roster looks like and how to build one and contribute to that, and I think that’s what he’s looking for — a real say in shaping the roster. Does he need total control over it? I don’t think so, but I guess we’ll find out,” O’Connor said.
Despite the possibility of giving up some roster control, O’Connor reports that Schoen has been heavily recruiting Harbaugh to the Giants.
“John Harbaugh is the most likely candidate where Joe Schoen is going to have to take a backseat, and Schoen knows that… and yet, my understanding is, he’s been relentless in recruiting Harbaugh.
“… They know that John Harbaugh has to have some say over that roster. It doesn’t make sense to pay him $18-21M per year and not give him what he wants to win successfully, so I suspect those conversations have already been had.”
O’Connor indicated that general manager Joe Schoen could be open to a role realignment to facilitate this hire.
The Giants Face Intense Competition for Harbaugh
Harbaugh is taking the weekend to consider his options but is expected to start visiting with teams this week before making a decision. The Giants will have some competition for his services.
“Frankly, Anthony, I don’t think he’s looking to make five visits. I would be surprised if he goes to five places. I would think he’d want to whittle that down to three,” O’Connor shared.
“We’ll see who those two are. The Giants will get a visit. And, as far as the other franchises, I don’t know about Cleveland… I don’t think Arizona is going to be a big player in this. I think it’s right now, those five franchises you’re looking at are the Giants, the Falcons, the Titans, the Dolphins, and the Browns, and my suspicion is he will try to whittle that down to about three and then make those visits.”
O’Connor added that there is “some fear” regarding the possibility of other jobs opening up after the first round of the NFL postseason (the Eagles, Packers, or Bills, potentially), but he doesn’t believe those openings are likely.
The team that O’Connor suggested might “scare” the Giants is the Atlanta Falcons.
“I think the one team that I look at that might scare me, maybe more than others, would be Atlanta simply because Matt Ryan is there now. I think that’s attractive to John Harbaugh.
“Obviously, [Bijan] Robinson is an all-world running back. You’ve got also, maybe more importantly, the easiest road to a division championship. So if Harbaugh is looking to give himself the best chance next year to win a division, that division was just won with an 8-9 record. Atlanta offers that great stadium, too,” O’Connor explained.
The Giants Are Casting a Wide Net: Who Else is Being Considered?
The Giants aren’t putting all of their eggs in the proverbial John Harbaugh basket, though. They have “fallback” options, such as Kevin Stefanski, as O’Connor described.
“If it doesn’t happen, then Stefanski is a pretty good fallback option. If that doesn’t happen, then it becomes a wide-open derby,” O’Connor said.
“… They have to be serious about Raheem Morris and certainly Kevin Stefanski, and they are. I would say they’re more serious about some candidates than others. But Mike McCarthy is a guy who never gets talked about… So, yeah, I think they are being very serious with many of these candidates because they don’t know for sure they’re getting Harbaugh. They don’t know for sure they’re even Stefanski. So they’d be crazy really not to take this seriously as far as the rest of the process is concerned.”
This article just barely scratches the surface of the information that O’Connor shared in my conversation with him. To hear the full conversation, check out the Fireside Giants podcast, which can be found on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.
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