Based on everything we know, the New York Giants are most likely to come away with either John Harbaugh or Kevin Stefanski as their next head coach.
Reports have suggested they are the two favorite s to land the Giants' head-coaching gig, which became available after the team fired Brian Daboll during the season.
But ESPN's Dan Graziano has a different view. He predicts the Giants will hire Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley instead.
"Hafley has been high on the Giants' list for a while, according to what I've been told," he wrote. "I think New York will try very hard to get Harbaugh or Stefanski, and the Giants might land one of them. But I placed those guys elsewhere, and I had to make a pick for the Giants based on the rest of the pool."
While Hafley was reportedly on the Giants' list of head-coach candidates at the outset of their search, there haven't been any reports saying the team has even requested to interview him.
That could still happen, but as of right now, it hasn't.
The only way we could see the Giants not landing Harbaugh or Stefanski is if they opt for other teams. If that happens, Hafley would be a solid hire.
While the Giants have work to do on both sides of the ball, the team's strength as we sit here today is the defense, which has a strong foundation thanks to guys like Brian Burns, Abdul Carter and Dexter Lawrence.
Knowing that, it wouldn't be a bad idea to hire a defensive-minded coach like Hafley, who has enjoyed success over two seasons as Green Bay's play-caller.
But Hafley will have to have a clear-cut plan on how to handle the offense and who will call the plays, as the development of quarterback Jaxson Dart is paramount.
And that plan has to be a multi-year one, as whoever calls the plays under Hafley is a candidate to be one-and-done if Dart and the Giants' offense turn things around and the offensive coordinator is poached for a head-coach job in 2027.
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