What’s the Latest with the Giants-John Harbaugh Contract Status?

Don't panic. Harbaugh is coming to the Giants, but not before some remaining contract details are ironed out.

John Harbaugh has accepted the Giants head coaching offer, but as of Thursday night, his contract was not yet finalized. | Mark Konezny-Imagn Images

Have no fear, as an official announcement by the New York Giants confirming reports of their hiring of John Harbaugh is coming.

But the caveat is that the announcement won’t drop, nor will an introductory press conference date and time be announced until Harbaugh’s “John Hancock” is on the dotted line.

Per former New York sports columnist turned author and ESPN radio host Gary Myers, who has been all over the Giants’ courting of Harbaugh, there are still a few details to be ironed out in what has been reported to be a five-year, $100 million contract. 

It’s unknown what those details are, but certainly, given the size of the contract, it’s not surprising that both sides want to ensure that they have covered all the bases before officially entering into a contractual union.

While it’s possible the contract could be wrapped up and signed by Friday, that doesn’t mean the Giants will rush to stage the press conference. 

As Myers noted, Monday is a federal holiday, which would likely mean that if the deal is signed, sealed, and delivered by the weekend, the earliest that Harbaugh would be officially announced and introduced would be Tuesday.

That would also probably be the last time both sides might want to hold such a press event, as next week is a big week on the NFL calendar, given it’s the week leading up to the AFC and NFC Conference title games, with the league undoubtedly desiring that attention shift to the four participating teams when they begin their respective practice weeks on Wednesday. 

The Giants are generally not an organization that seeks to steal the league's thunder.

Thus, if ironing out the details of the contract should, for whatever reason, continue to drag on, it would not be at all surprising if the Giants delay Harbaugh’s introductory press conference until the following week, once the conference title games have been played.

Harbaugh, who had his formal interview on Wednesday, decided to take the Giants job offer after being flown back to Baltimore on Giants co-owner Steve Tisch’s private jet, with Harbaugh cancelling a Thursday meeting at his Baltimore-area home with the Tennessee Titans. 

The news of Harbaugh’s decision greeted scores of happy Giants fans early Thursday morning.

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