New York Giants head coach John Harbaugh unapologetically admitted on Monday that he did call Tennessee Titans owner Amy Adams Strunk about the possibility of trading for defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons.
“I left a message [with Strunk] because you’re turning over every stone, going to try everything,” Harbaugh said. “I mean, I’ll put it out there, man. We’re open for any call. Anybody who wants to call us or call anybody, call.
“It was kind of like fun to see the outpouring of interest in that. I enjoyed
it. We’re not part of any secret society oath that says you can only talk to somebody. We’re not in that. We didn’t get memoed on that. We’re not in that agreement. So, like I said, anybody can call us. We won’t be adhering to that particular agreement.”
Harbaugh said the Giants are “not apologizing” for aggressively trying to do what is best for them.
“It’s a small world, so people call people. So, to say that only these two people can talk to each other, it’s not how it works. It’s false, it’s incorrect. People on every level make calls to people on every level because they know them,” Harbaugh said. “And how we do it here, and how we did it in Baltimore, and I love the way it’s done here, and the way they’ve done it here in the past too, is it’s transparent in our building. We’re all talking to each other, we all know what each other’s doing, we all know. I know who Joe’s calling, Joe knows if I’m calling somebody, Joe knows who I’m calling.
“We’re turning over every stone, we’re making every call. We’re getting all the information we can possibly get at all times, and we are not apologizing for that at any point in time ever. We’re going to do the most we can possibly do to try to get some things done. It’s hard to get deals done. It’s hard, you can see how hard it is, but we’re going to do our best and what’s for our team.”
The Giants are 4-2-1 and in first place in the NFC East. With the Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles, and Washington Commanders all floundering and under .500, the Giants have an opportunity to win the division for the first time since 2011. That, coincidentally, is the last time the Giants won the Super Bowl.
With the Nov. 10 NFL trade deadline just a week away, Harbaugh said the Giants will “always” look to upgrade the roster.
“That’s always the goal,” Harbaugh said. “Easier said than done. And it’s hard to find players that can make you better, because we have good players. Very good players.
“So, it’s got to be something that is a need, that fits your financial profile, that fits your price tag. I mean, it’s not like we have a bunch of draft picks either. We’re not loaded with 12 or 13 draft picks where we’ve got draft capital to burn. We don’t. So, we have to be smart shoppers that way.”
Harbaugh said that if the Giants surrender draft capital they want to do it with more than just this season in mind.
“It would have to be, though, honestly, it wouldn’t have to just be a short-term thing, for me, it wouldn’t want to be a one-on-one kind of thing,” he said. “You want to have a short-term and a long-term win if you’re going to do it with draft capital.”
Harbaugh admitted that locker room acceptance would be a consideration in any proposed deal.
“Yes, absolutely, very important. We got a great camaraderie, a great brotherhood, synergy,” Harbaugh said. “All those things is really, really good right now, and you want to take that into account, even to the point where you probably talk to some of your guys before you did something like that. Make sure that everybody understands, and they’re kind of on board with it.”
