John Harbaugh’s not letting slip who the New York Giants want to add at quarterback after Jaxson Dart’s season-ending knee surgery, but many around the NFL already believe the head coach wants to reunite with one of his favorites from his days in charge of the Baltimore Ravens.
Extensively travelled backup Josh Johnson’s the ageing signal-caller in question. Johnson and ex-San Francisco 49ers starter Jimmy Garoppolo “have been mentioned as possibilities in league circles,” according to NorthJersey.com’s Art Stapleton.
Garoppolo’s heavily touted as a “very real” option for the Giants for a number of compelling reasons, but Johnson “was with Harbaugh for three separate stints in Baltimore and is also a former Giant.”
Johnson’s currently with the Ravens’ AFC North rivals the Cincinnati Bengals, on their practice squad. Making him the second 40-something Bengals’ backup tipped to reunite with Harbaugh.
Recruiting some proven, veteran help makes sense for the Giants. Particularly when the team’s post-Dart plans currently involve putting an All-Pro on emergency duty at football’s most important position.
Adding Johnson in free agency would at least give the Giants somebody who knows the Harbaugh playbook and has starter’s experience.
John Harbaugh Reunion With Josh Johnson Seems Plausible
Reuniting with Johnson is one of the more straightforward and logical ways for the Harbaugh to refresh the Giants’ depth chart at quarterback. Coach and player have extensive knowledge of one another from Johnson’s multiple stints with the Ravens during the 2016, 2021, 2023 and ’24 seasons.
Johnson’s also seen action for a litany of other NFL teams, including the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Cleveland Browns, New York Jets and the 49ers. He even had a brief spell with the Giants in 2016.
Johnson closed the 2025 season starting back-to-back games for the Giants’ NFC East rivals the Washington Commanders. He went 1-1, completed 29 0f 45 passes for 329 yards and a touchdown, and Johnson also rushed for a score, per Pro Football Reference.
Those numbers show Johnson still has some arm talent and can also move the ball on the ground. He fits a Giants’ offense originally designed to maximize Dart’s dual-threat skills.
Plans are now changing after Dart suffered a devastating injury against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 2. The Giants will run a different type of offense with static, pocket-based passer Jameis Winston at the controls, but different doesn’t mean more effective.
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Winston is not the ideal next man up after Dart’s injury. The switch means the Giants are changing multiple elements of the playbook.
Change can be difficult, something the Giants found to their cost after Winston entered the game against the Rams. That was when “the Giants tried to eliminate or reduce the shifts and motions attached to some plays. It seemed to confuse other skill players, however,” according to Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post.
Reducing the number of plays crafted to let Dart use his mobility as a weapon is the first task facing offensive coordinator Matt Nagy. He admitted “There’s a part of the [game script] that we do lose any way you look at it. There are areas of [Dart’s] game that, when you lose him, you lose that part of the playbook. But it’s not a massive number to where you can’t run an offense,” per Dunleavy.
The latter also provided an interesting note about how “Unlike some teams with similar-style backups — the Ravens’ Lamar Jackson and Tyler Huntley on the mobile end of the spectrum, and the Bengals’ Joe Burrow and Joe Flacco on the pocket end — the Giants paired an odd couple.”
Dunleavy’s reference to the Jackson and Huntley partnership Harbaugh put together with the Ravens is one more reason the coach bringing Johnson to the Giants as free agent feels like a natural choice.
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