While the New York Giants are sitting pretty with Jaxson Dart as their franchise quarterback and John Harbaugh as head coach, their former head coach is doing pretty well for himself. Brian Daboll was able to land on his feet as the offensive coordinator of the Tennessee Titans under HC Robert Saleh.
The new destination will allow Daboll to tap into his expertise with quarterback development to help Cam Ward take a step forward in Year 2. Saleh seems pretty excited to see what he can get out of Ward, and so does Titans' GM Mike Borgonzi, who has them on the right track in the midst of a rebuild.
However, during an interview with Tom Pelissero on NFL Network's The Insiders, Borgonzi let Giants fans in on a major secret about their former head coach: he desperately tried to get the Titans (and his new boss) to trade down from the No. 1 pick in the 2025 Draft so the Big Blue could select Ward.
It's funny how the NFL gods work and even funnier how things are working out, even if it will alter the perception of the Dart pick in some way.
Brian Daboll might not have been as committed to drafting Jaxson Dart as Giants fans think
This isn't the first time Daboll has tried something like this, either. During the 2024 NFL Draft, the 50-year-old pulled out all the stops to try and trade up with the New England Patriots for Drake Maye, which just like his pursuit of Ward, proved fruitless, even if the Giants are arguably better off currently.
As we all know, Daboll loved working with Dart and seemed to be very taken with him throughout the pre-draft process, but part of that rapport could have been him accepting the fact he was never going to be able to land his true target in Ward, instead choosing to pivot to the next best option.
Whether the 22-year-old was the "consolation prize" or not, it hasn't changed the impact that Dart has had on this franchise. Despite some injury concerns, the Ole Miss product shined in his rookie season, altering the Giants' fortunes overnight, which he mostly did without his two top weapons.
Ultimately, things worked out in the end, as the G-Men came away with two franchise cornerstones in Dart and Abdul Carter, and are in position to keep building on their young core with the No. 5 pick in the 2026 Draft, where the possibilities will be endless for Harbaugh and Joe Schoen in Pittsburgh.
This entire saga and Borgonzi's words just prove that some things are for the best, as Daboll finally got his wish to work with Ward, while the Giants are circling a bright future with the QB he brought home instead, which is something that no amount of revisionist history will be able to change.