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‘We Are Not Apologizing’: Harbaugh Explains Call to Titans Owner About Jeffery Simmons
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- ‘We Are Not Apologizing’: Harbaugh Explains Call to Titans Owner About Jeffery Simmons
John Harbaugh caught heat for his breach of etiquette in his pursuit of former Tennessee Titans defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons.
But on Monday he told his side of the story.
Harbaugh opened up about calling Titans owner Amy Adams Strunk directly and shed light on the back-channel trade negotiations that are ongoing around the league.
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Some criticized Harbaugh's call for its departure from the traditional executive-to-executive communication. But according to Jonathan Jones of The Athletic, Titans general manager Mike Borgonzi had rebuffed Giants GM Joe Schoen, which is what prompted Harbaugh to call the owner directly.
John Harbaugh: Criticisms About His Phone Call to the Titans Owner Are 'False'
Both Harbaugh and Strunk have been in the league for more than a decade, so each has some experience with etiquette and norms of the trade deadline.
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Harbaugh said he was simply "turning over every stone" until Simmons ultimately was traded to the Chicago Bears for three picks, including two first-rounders. He took issue with the notion he gone outside any norms with his call.
"To say that only these two people can talk to each other, it's not how it works. It's false, it's incorrect," Harbaugh said Monday. "People on every level make calls to people on every level because they know them."
With the trade deadline now a week away, the Giants, and most NFL teams, are employing an all-hands-on-deck approach to executing trades. Harbaugh said he was simply supporting Schoen in their shared effort of making the team better.
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"I know who Joe's calling. Joe knows if I'm calling somebody, Joe knows who I'm calling," Harbaugh said. "We're turning over every stone. We're making every call. We're getting all the information we can possibly get at all times, and we are not apologizing for that at any point in time ever. We're going to do the most we can possibly do to try to get some things done. It's hard to get deals done. You can see how hard it is, but we're going to do our best and what's for our team."
The Giants Are Being 'Aggressive' in the Trade Market
The Giants are usually the opposite of aggressive on every front. But that's all changed with Harbaugh in charge.
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Harbaugh confirmed the Giants are being proactive in trying to execute deals, and his pursuit of Simmons proves that.
"It definitely just says that we're aggressive," Harbaugh said. "I don't think it says anything about whatever price we might have been willing to pay."
The Giants are atop the NFC East and are the odds-on favorite to win the division for the first time since 2011.
But with a budding arms race going on around the conference — the Bears acquired Simmons, the San Francisco 49ers traded for DeForest Buckner and the Seattle Seahawks acquired Quenton Nelson already — Harbaugh is trying to set the team's sights higher while also managing their dwindling draft capital.
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"It's hard to find players that can make you better, because we have good players, very good players," Harbaugh said. "So, it's got to be something that is a need, that fits your financial profile, that fits your price tag. I mean, it's not like we have a bunch of draft picks either. We're not loaded with 12 or 13 draft picks where we've got draft capital to burn. We don't. So, we have to be smart shoppers that way."
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This story was originally published by Athlon on Nov 3, 2026, where it first appeared in the NFL section. Add Athlon as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
