The rumors making the rounds on Monday reportedly were true.
Jordan Schultz reports that the contract between the Giants and incoming coach John Harbaugh is expected to be worth five years, at $20 million per year. That’s $100 million over five years.
If that’s what happens, times have changed in the NFL. Eight years ago, the 10-year, $100 million contract between the Raiders and Jon Gruden raised eyebrows.
It’s overdue. For a good coach, $20 million per year is a bargain. (The Jets paid that to quarterback Justin Fields, on a two-year contract.) And, frankly, it’s possible that Harbaugh will get more than $20 million per year; teams sometimes use related companies to funnel extra cash to a head coach. Because there’s no salary cap, there’s no prohibition against off-the-books payments to coaches.
And because there’s no transparency in coaching contracts, it’s impossible to know exactly what any of them make.
Some believe that certain owners want to keep coaching costs down. It seems, without having full access to all current or historical contracts, that coaching salary hasn’t grown at the same rate as player pay and the salary cap.
Regardless of any temptation to collude, Harbaugh had the leverage to get even more than $20 million, if that’s what he ends up getting. He didn’t seem to be interested, however, in playing one team against another in order to get the best possible deal. He seemed to want to find the right place to thrive.
Of the various openings in the current cycle, he may have done it.
Giants Clips
John Harbaugh is set to be the next head coach of the Giants and one of his top assistants from Baltimore may be making the move with him.
Multiple reports on Thursday have Todd Monken as a top choice to be the offensive coordinator. Monken held the same job on Harbaugh’s Ravens staff for the last three seasons.
The Giants will have to conduct a full search to comply with NFL hiring rules before naming Monken or anyone else their coordinator.
Monken interviewed for the Browns’ head coaching vacancy and has been seen as an offensive coordinator option for several teams, but sticking with Harbaugh and working to continue quarterback Jaxson Dart’s development in New Jersey appears to be the likely next step in his career.
Brian Daboll apparently has no hard feelings two months after the Giants fired him.
John Harbaugh is reportedly finalizing an agreement to coach the Giants, and Daboll, the Giants’ head coach from 2022 to 2025, is among the people telling Harbaugh he should take the job.
Daboll was extremely complimentary about the Giants and told Harbaugh that Giants General Manager Joe Schoen will be a good person to work with, according to the New York Post.
The report says the Giants engaged in a full-court press that also included having Tom Coughlin and Eli Manning reach out to Harbaugh to talk up the Giants.
The report also says the Giants are willing to pay Harbaugh up to $20 million a year.
John Harbaugh left the Giants building after interviewing with the club on Wednesday, but it sounds like he’ll be back soon.
According to a late-night Wednesday report from Adam Schefter of ESPN, Harbaugh and the Giants are working to finalize a deal to make him the franchise’s next head coach. Barring a setback, the two sides are expected to come to an agreement.
Schefter adds that the two sides have not yet finalized the deal with Harbaugh’s contract still being negotiated. But without any setbacks, Schefter reports, “Harbaugh is ready to accept the Giants’ deal and the Giants are expected to hire him as soon as possible.”
New York is able to make a hire immediately, having satisfied the Rooney Rule by holding two in-person interviews with minority candidates.
Harbaugh was expected to meet with the Titans and Falcons later this week. But there was always a chance for the Giants to make a strong enough impression to get those interviews off of Harbaugh’s agenda.
Officials from Tennessee were reportedly set to fly to Baltimore on Thursday morning to meet with Harbaugh.
Harbaugh’s interview with the Giants on Wednesday reportedly included spending time with quarterback Jaxson Dart.
Fired by the Ravens last week after an 8-9 finish in 2025, Harbaugh accumulated a 180-113 regular-season record with the Ravens and a 13-11 postseason record in 18 years with the franchise. He coached the Ravens to their second Lombardi Trophy, defeating the 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII to cap the 2012 season.
The Giants are getting their young quarterback involved as they court John Harbaugh to be their next head coach.
Via NFL Media, Jaxson Dart was in the building and met with Harbaugh during the coach’s interview on Wednesday.
The No. 25 overall pick of the 2025 draft, Dart appeared in 14 games with 12 starts as a rookie. He finished the season having completed 63.7 percent of his passes for 2,272 yards with 15 touchdowns and five interceptions.
Dart, however, suffered multiple injuries and was checked for a concussion multiple times over the course of his rookie season.
Still, Dart displayed his potential to solidify himself as being a part of the Giants’ present and future. While his opinion may or may not hold weight, getting him acquainted with Harbaugh during the interview process is unlikely to be a detriment.
Having interviewed candidates to satisfy the Rooney Rule, the Giants can hire Harbaugh at any time. But multiple reports indicate that Harbaugh is still currently expected to meet with the Titans and Falcons about their vacancies this week before potentially taking any more meetings or making a decision about his destination.
Marcus Freeman’s name has come up for more than one job in this year’s coaching cycle.
But even though he was the favorite to land the Giants job at one point, Freeman has been consistent in saying that he’s continuing as the head coach at Notre Dame.
In a Wednesday press conference, Freeman was asked about the NFL rumors that have surfaced this offseason and the Fighting Irish HC spun them as being a net-positive.
“I’m the head coach at Notre Dame,” Freeman said. “I’ve said this before that individual recognition, individual success, NFL interest — those are all a reflection of team success and where this football program is. I’ve used some of the interest from the NFL to personally gain wisdom from maybe some of the G.M.s or front-office executives that you get a chance to talk to about your players, but also about what they view as a successful coach. Maybe it’s an NFL coach, but what are some of the things they’ve seen that have made a coach successful in their organization or franchise — and maybe not so successful.
“So, I utilize these opportunities through conversations to gain knowledge myself to be the best head coach I can be of the Notre Dame football program. So, again, that’s where my mindset is. I don’t control the noise, but I know the noise that’s in my head and where my focus is.”
Freeman had made clear his intent to stay on with Notre Dame with a social media post in late December. But even as the rumors persist, Freeman says he doesn’t mind them. In fact, he welcomes the chatter.
“The only statement I put out was let’s run it back,” Freeman said. “I was intentional about that. I don’t need to come out with a statement every time one of these job openings happen. You know I always say the future is uncertain. That’s what I tell our players, it’s what I tell myself — it’s the reality of life. But everything I want and everything that I need personally can be achieved right here as the head coach of this program.
“So, I hope this is something we have to address every year, I really do, because it means we’re having a lot of success right here at Notre Dame. If this isn’t something we’d have to address, then there’s bigger issues within what we’re doing as a football program because as your program has success, these types of things are going to occur.”
Freeman is not planning to be an NFL head coach at this point. But he did pause when asked if he would like to have one of those 32 jobs at some point in his career.
“Do I want to be? I mean, I don’t really — I’ve never done it,” Freeman said. “I don’t know enough about it. Maybe sometime in the future, if it’s the right time and it’s what I think is right for me, then maybe I’ll pursue it. But I don’t love wasting time thinking about things that aren’t right in front of me.
“So, I don’t know what I’ll want in however much length of time from now. I don’t know. But I know right now that I am as convicted and motivated to being the best head coach of the Notre Dame football program as I can be.”
Freeman, 39, has compiled a 43-12 record in his four seasons with the Fighting Irish since taking over for Brian Kelly.
The Cowboys are interested in speaking to a coach from a division rival as part of their search for a new defensive coordinator.
Mike Garafolo of NFL Media reports that they have requested an interview with Giants interim defensive coordinator Charlie Bullen. Bullen took over the coordinator responsibilities when the Giants fired Shane Bowen in November.
Bullen joined the Giants as their outside linebackers coach in 2024 and held that job until his midseason move up the hierarchy. The Giants closed out the season with a few of their best defensive performances and the Cowboys’ interest in speaking to him suggests that others took notice of those efforts.
Bullen spent a year at Illinois before joining the Giants. He’s also spent time with the Dolphins and Cardinals.
Until the Packers announce that coach Matt LaFleur definitely will be back in 2026, there’s a chance he won’t be.
While most teams have no reason after the end of a given season to state the obvious, there’s currently nothing obvious about LaFleur’s future in Green Bay.
On Wednesday’s PFT Live, we pointed out the possibility that the Packers want to see whether someone will contact them with interest in making a deal for LaFleur. And while LaFleur would have to be willing to participate in the two-step process (new team makes a deal with the Packers, new team makes a deal with LaFleur), it may be his only alternative to accepting an extension he doesn’t like or coaching the final year of his current deal.
Appearing on ESPN Milwaukee earlier today, ESPN’s Adam Schefter characterized LaFleur’s status as “up in the air.” (Aaron Rodgers is gonna be upset.) Schefter explained that, if an extension isn’t finalized, it’s possible that some other team will call the Packers about possibly hiring LaFleur.
Regardless of the procedure that applies in situations like this, the reality is that there will be plenty of back-channel communications regarding, for example, whether LaFleur would be interested in one or more of the various vacancies and what it would take to hire him.
Again, all of this ends the moment the Packers declare LaFleur will be the coach in 2026. Until that occurs, anything can happen.
Former Falcons head coach Raheem Morris has had a few in-person meetings for head coaching vacancies after Atlanta fired him earlier this month.
Via Albert Breer of SI.com, Morris has now interviewed in-person with the Cardinals, Titans, and Giants.
That means each of those teams has conducted at least one in-person interview with a minority candidate. The Giants have had two, satisfying the requirement, as they’ve met with Morris and former Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce.
The Falcons finished 8-9 in 2024 and 2025 under Morris.
Morris was previously Atlanta’s interim head coach in 2020, going 4-7. He also accumulated a 20-25 record in three seasons as Buccaneers head coach from 2009-2011.
As it relates to the Cardinals, Morris is plenty familiar with the NFC West as he served as Rams defensive coordinator from 2021-2023.
John Harbaugh is starting to take in-person interviews.
According to multiple reports, Harbaugh is in New Jersey to meet with the Giants on Wednesday for his first known in-person interview after he was fired by the Ravens last week.
As has been widely noted, Harbaugh is expected to coach in 2026.
The Giants are one of the favorites to land Harbaugh, who reportedly is also set to meet with the Titans and Falcons this week.
While most teams with a head coach vacancy are surely interested in Harbaugh — who recorded a 180-113 regular-season record with a 13-11 postseason record in his 18 seasons with Baltimore — the former Ravens coach is set to be selective about the meetings he takes.
If Harbaugh and the Giants end up being a fit, New York can hire him immediately because the club has satisfied the requirements of the Rooney Rule. But it seems likely that Harbaugh will take more than one in-person meeting before deciding on his next stop.
