Dan Salomone: Coaches and general managers will be in Phoenix next week for the NFL Annual Meeting, and I’m guessing the question of “positional value” will come up once or twice during media sessions. And I think I know the answer.
It will go something like what John Harbaugh said at his introductory press conference: “To me, the number one thing is we have to have guys that love football. You just have to. It’s football. What are we here for? What do we do? What is this building for? It’s for football. This is a football team.”
He’s not trying to build the best quarterback room.
He’s not trying to build the greatest arsenal of skill players.
He’s not trying to build the most dominant pass rush.
He might be trying to build the best group of special teamers.
Jokes aside, the bottom line is he doesn’t seem like a coach who will be dictated by perceived positional value. The real value of a player is if he can help his team walk off the field on Sundays with more points than the opponent. Harbaugh did that 193 times with Baltimore, including a big one that included confetti at the end.
The Giants haven’t been able to do that enough recently, and that’s why they are picking at No. 5. It’s also the reason they can’t rule out any position, other than quarterback, in the draft.
That is the one luxury they did not have a year ago. In other words, the biggest thing that will affect this upcoming draft is not free agency. It was the 25th pick in the 2025 draft. Jaxson Dart’s presence sets them up to take the best player available – in every round.