John Harbaugh has yet to sign a contract to become head coach of the New York Giants nearly 48 hours after reports broke that he had accepted the job. On Friday evening, NFL Insider Ian Rapoport of NFL Network said that “reporting structure” and other organizational issues are holding up the deal.
“It does not sound like this is about money,” Rapoport said. “It sounds like it’s more about reporting structure and who is able to do what and how the whole organization is set up.”
Rapoport said it “seems like there was something lost in translation” because these are issues that would generally be ironed out before any word that a job had been accepted.
“There’s a lot to be handled. It sounds like they are trying to handle it, but smooth sailing it has not been,” Rapoport said.
Ian O’Connor of The Athletic, who has been out front on this story since Harbaugh was fired by the Ravens, summarized the situation this way:
“My understanding is John Harbaugh and Chris Mara are forming a pretty good bond since their Sunday lunch & meeting at Harbaugh’s house. Chris remains confident this gets done. Still a chance the Giants announce in the coming hours tonight, but no need for Harbaugh to rush it.”
Long-time NFL columnist Gary Myers offered this from his sources:
— “Everything is going fine. There are no issues. No hangups. There is no rush. If it doesn’t get done until Sunday, what’s the difference?” from ultra-reliable source a few minutes ago.
— Length and money still being discussed despite reports of 5-year $100M deal. They will come to terms that makes both sides comfortable.
— Power, final personnel say between Harbaugh and GM Joe Schoen is no issue. Harbaugh is comfortable with the arrangement. Schoen would be foolish not to lean on Harbaugh, so I expect it will be a collaboration.
— The contract is a hefty 30-40 pages. Lots of billable hours for the attorneys.
Press conference will be Tuesday.
There remains a belief that the Giants will formally introduce Harbaugh as their head coach on Tuesday.
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