After throwing more than $130 million at players once free agency opened, it's been all quiet on the North Jersey front. Aside from some minor depth signings and bringing some under-the-radar players back, it's been crickets from Joe Schoen and John Harbaugh.
Perhaps a little too quiet.
Anyone who followed Harbaugh from his days in Baltimore knows exactly what's going on, whether the team wants to admit it or not. In his 18 years coaching The Flock, he and his former GM, Eric DeCosta, became the gold standard at maximizing the compensatory pick formula. Comp picks are great. They help teams recoup assets for departing free agents, so they aren't just left picking up the pieces.
Basically, if you lose more quality players than you sign, the league gives you extra draft picks based on how much those players got paid and how much they actually played the following season. It's something Baltimore took advantage of and was successful with under Harby, and something Big Blue could exploit too... if Schoen comes around to it, which apparently is not something he hasn't put much effort or thought into yet.
Giants might be following John Harbaugh’s blueprint more than we think
As Giants insider Dan Duggan pointed out, Schoen is projecting they’ll get a comp pick, but it could be anywhere from a fourth to nothing, depending on playing time around the league.
That’s the part they can’t control, and it’s why this feels more like a lean than a full-on strategy. The 46-year-old GM also made it clear they didn’t enter free agency chasing comp picks, but they aren't flat-out ignoring them either. If there’s a player they really want, they’ll sign him. If not, they’re fine playing the long game.
That middle ground feels like Schoen is still easing into something Harbaugh has been doing for years.
New York has averaged 7.8 picks per draft under Schoen (heavily inflated by having 11 in his first year). That number drops to 6.7 over the last three. Harbaugh’s Ravens averaged 8.9 in his 18 drafts. Baltimore consistently found ways to add picks, whether it was trading back or working the comp formula. The Giants haven’t really operated like that. So when the leaves of change hit North Jersey, it’s hard not to see where the influence is coming from.
Big Blue isn't done adding players. At least, I hope they're not. Once they get past that early free agency window and into the post-May 1 stretch, anyone signed after doesn’t count against the compensatory formula the following draft.
And if that’s what they’re doing, it lines up perfectly with how Harby has always operated. Let everyone else spend early, sit on your hands a bit, and then come back around when the market settles.
Things are quieter now, and Schoen might not say it outright, but this has Harbaugh written all over it. And if the tradeoff is taking a few more bites of the apple instead of a March signing nobody remembers by October, I'd say it's probably worth it.