John Harbaugh said on Monday that he called Amy Adams Strunk and left a message as the Giants pushed to spark Jeffery Simmons trade discussions. He said he was willing to keep making calls if it helped the Giants, and he made clear he would not wait for someone else to do the reaching out.
The reason readers are hearing about the Jeffery Simmons trade now is simple: Harbaugh confirmed the call himself. He said, “I did, I did,” and explained that the Giants were trying to “turn over every stone” because they were open for any call. In his telling, the point was not polish or protocol. It was to put the idea in front of the right person and see whether anything moved.
That is where the story gets unusual. Harbaugh said it was “kind of, like, fun to see the outpouring of interest in that,” and added, “I enjoyed it.” He also brushed aside any idea that only certain people are supposed to talk in trade talks. “We’re not like — we’re not part of any secret society oath that says you can only talk to somebody,” he said. “We didn’t get memoed on that.” He said the Giants were open, that anybody could call, and that he would not follow any unwritten agreement that tried to limit who could speak to whom.
Behind the scenes, the Giants apparently were not getting anywhere with Mike Borgonzi, which helps explain why they got creative and resourceful in pursuing Simmons. The call to Adams Strunk was not presented as a final deal or even a sign that one was close. It was a move to shake loose a stalled effort and find another route into the conversation.
There is still a major gap in what is known. The exact offer for Simmons has not been laid out, and the Titans did not appear to have been asked whether they would match or beat the Bears' offer before the situation moved on. That matters because a trade can stall for reasons that have nothing to do with interest and everything to do with timing, price and whether the other side is ever given a chance to answer. Harbaugh’s call shows the Giants were willing to try something off the usual track; it does not show that the path actually opened.
What comes next is the same question that hangs over any deal reached this way: whether anyone on the Titans side responds in a way that advances a Jeffery Simmons trade, or whether this remains one of those calls that says as much about how hard the Giants pushed as it does about whether they were ever close to landing him.
