Inside John Harbaugh’s Opening Remarks to Remake the Giants

John Harbaugh identified his mission from the day he took over as the New York Giants' head coach - he intends on quickly turning around the team's fortunes - and he's not about to back down from it. The first significant step in his plan began today with the start of the team's offseason program.

Many of the players likely arrived with an understanding of the overall game plan, though they're only starting Phase I per league policy. The first two weeks of the offseason framework are voluntary and limited to meetings, strength and conditioning, and physical rehabilitation.

Perhaps of greater significance, the roster will get a feel for how Harbaugh plans to get the ball rolling despite the reported absence of former All-Pro nose tackle Dexter Lawrence, who's disgruntled over his contract.

"My vision is simple: We will develop a disciplined, resilient, and prepared team - one that plays with passion, physicality, and an unrelenting love for the game," Harbaugh wrote in a recent letter to season ticket holders.

"We will fight for every yard and every opportunity to make you proud, building a culture of excellence that honors our legacy while charging into an exciting new era."

And his message remained consistent at the league meetings.

"The expectation should always be to win the game, so our expectation is always going to be every game we go into to win," Harbaugh insisted.

"Every single game we're going to plan on going in to win that game. So, our plan is to win every game, and I'm pretty sure that if we do, we'll make the playoffs, right? If my math is right. That's what we're going to try to do.

"We're going to prepare that way, we’re going to meet that way, we’re going to lift the right way, we're
going to talk ball that way. We are going to do everything we can as a team to make that happen."

The Giants' current roster includes 77 players, 27 of whom have been signed since Harbaugh took over on Jan. 20. This list includes 17 free agents from other teams, 10 who were re-upped as holdovers, and 10 who were jettisoned.

The team also has seven draft picks available, which means there's currently room for six other players with very little cap room (pending more contract juggling).

Big Blue Breakdown host Paul Dottino will have a complete recap of today's media session with Harbaugh and his coordinators tonight at 8 p.m. ET. Listeners will also be able to participate via chat and audio/video calls by clicking on this link to be placed into the studio.

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