Giants' John Harbaugh, Jaxson Dart hit it off right away
Jaxson Dart of the New York Giants reacts late in the fourth quarter against the Dallas Cowboys at MetLife Stadium on Jan. 4, 2026. Credit: Jim McIsaac
The day after the Giants’ season ended, Jaxson Dart offered to help the front office attract or retain talent in free agency. He was asked if he is a good salesman.
“I’m the best,” he said.
Dart was present when the Giants interviewed John Harbaugh for their head-coaching job. He didn’t need to be Don Draper, the executive from the TV show “Mad Men” known for great closing pitches. Nor was he asked to be, as general manager Joe Schoen said he wouldn’t have much say during the search.
But Dart’s presence showed what a great selling point he was to Harbaugh. The Giants’ new coach shared that excitement about his quarterback’s potential during his introductory news conference on Tuesday.
Harbaugh has had success with young quarterbacks, first with Joe Flacco and then Lamar Jackson on the Ravens. Will a third time be the charm with Dart as he enters his second season? Harbaugh thinks so.
“You build your team around your quarterback. You build your team around your players and what they do well,” he said. “I like the way he plays. I like his talent, skill set, all the things he’s accomplished, but more than that, I like who he is and what he’s about.
“To me, he’s about football. This young guy loves football. He wants to talk football all the time, and that’s kind of what I like doing too.”
That was evident in their conversations. Schoen said Dart and Harbaugh set up a phone call before Harbaugh’s official interview on Jan. 14.
Things continued between the two in person that day. The talks went so well that Schoen had to force the two to separate in order to continue Harbaugh’s interview.
“We had to pull them out of the room because we had to speed things along,” Schoen said. “So they probably could’ve been there all day together. It was a good connection right off the bat and I’m looking forward to those two working together.”
Harbaugh helped develop Jackson into a three-time All-Pro and two-time MVP under multiple offensive coordinators. Harbaugh’s first Ravens season in 2008 also was Flacco’s rookie year. In their fifth year together, the two celebrated a Super Bowl championship.
Flacco was named Super Bowl MVP, capping a postseason in which he threw 11 touchdown passes and zero interceptions in four games.
Dart isn’t the athlete Jackson is, nor does he have the strong arm of Flacco. But he is a dual-threat quarterback who helped the Giants rise from 30th in total offense in 2024 to 13th this season. He also took care of the ball with only five interceptions and a 1.5% interception rate — interceptions divided by pass attempts — that was better than the league average of 2.2%.
In Harbaugh’s mind, Dart has the skills to be an excellent quarterback. Dart didn’t need to sell himself to Harbaugh, but their chats confirmed that the two share the same mindset and eagerness to see how this partnership develops.
“It takes an exceptional level of talent, playmaking ability, awareness, grit, all those different things,” Harbaugh said. “Sometimes it’s arm strength, sometimes it’s accuracy, sometimes it’s almost always the ability to get out of the pocket and make a play.
“So all those things that Jaxson has that I’m excited about, it’ll be fun. It’ll be fun to get with him and do it one more time.”
Dart, Carter finalists
Dart was named one of five finalists for AP Offensive Rookie of the Year on Thursday. Linebacker Abdul Carter was a finalist for AP Defensive Rookie of the Year.
They were the only two Giants named as finalists for any award. Brian Burns ranked second in the NFL with 16.5 sacks, but the linebacker was not a finalist for Defensive Player of the Year.
The winners will be announced Feb. 5 at the annual NFL Honors ceremony.
New head athletic trainer
Giants head athletic trainer Ronnie Barnes will remain senior vice president of medical services, but the team confirmed Thursday that there will be a new head trainer next season who reports to Barnes.
Barnes served as the Giants’ head trainer since 1980 and has worked with the team since 1976.
Evan Barnes covers the Giants for Newsday. He previously covered the Brooklyn Nets, Memphis football and the Memphis Grizzlies and also covered prep sports in Los Angeles.
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