New York Giants Head to the Greenbrier as the John Harbaugh Era Begins

The John Harbaugh era stops being theoretical this week. New York Giants rookies report to training camp on Thursday, July 23, veterans follow on July 28, and for the first time in memory none of it happens in New Jersey — the whole operation decamps to The Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, while the team's East Rutherford facility gets renovated. It is a fitting bit of staging for a franchise trying to physically distance itself from a 4-13 season that got Brian Daboll fired in November. The best piece of New York Giants news this week did not involve a transaction at all: Malik Nabers, per multiple reports, is expected back on the field as camp opens, roughly ten months removed from the torn ACL that ended his 2025 season in Week 4.

The week in Giants news: bags packed for West Virginia

The camp logistics came into focus this week. After rookies arrive July 23 and get a head start, the full squad convenes at The Greenbrier's sports performance center on July 28. Six practices are free and open to the public — July 30, July 31, August 1, then August 5-7 — with August 1 doubling as the league's Back Together Weekend, featuring Giants legends Carl Banks and Shaun O'Hara on site. Meanwhile, the Nabers news landed July 14: the third-year receiver, who was on a historic reception pace before his knee gave out last September, is expected to be ready as camp starts rather than opening on the physically-unable-to-perform list. For an offense being rebuilt around Jaxson Dart, getting its best player back on schedule is the whole ballgame. Local coverage this week also turned to the roster fights, and there are real ones — more on those below.

How the Giants got here: a 2-8 start and a coaching coup

The short version of 2025: the Giants started 2-8, fired Daboll on November 10, played out the string under interim coach Mike Kafka, and finished 4-13 — last in the NFC East and the first team eliminated from playoff contention for a second straight year. Along the way they lost Nabers to a torn ACL, running back Cam Skattebo to a dislocated ankle, and rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart to a Week 10 concussion. The season's lone bright spots were Dart's electric first half, a second-team All-Pro campaign from Brian Burns, and ownership's response: in January, the Giants landed John Harbaugh, prying one of the sport's most accomplished coaches away after 18 seasons running the Baltimore Ravens, a tenure that included the Super Bowl XLVII title. General manager Joe Schoen survived the purge, and Harbaugh brought in Matt Nagy to coordinate the offense. The Baltimore flavor extends to the roster — tight end Isaiah Likely and fullback Patrick Ricard, both former Ravens, now populate the depth chart.

Jaxson Dart and his new head coach

Dart's rookie line deserves a second look: 14 appearances, 12 starts, a 63.7 percent completion rate, 2,272 passing yards with 15 touchdowns against 5 interceptions, plus 487 rushing yards and 9 scores on the ground. He became the first quarterback in NFL history with a passing and rushing touchdown in four consecutive games and won Offensive Rookie of the Month in October before the concussion interrupted everything. Harbaugh, who spent nearly two decades building an offense around a running quarterback in Baltimore, has publicly compared Dart's dual-threat profile to Lamar Jackson's and has been notably unbothered by questions about his quarterback's physical running style. Dart, for his part, told reporters this spring he "couldn't think of a better coach to play for" and has described the culture shift as a refreshing change. Chemistry in May is cheap; what matters is whether Nagy's system can channel Dart's legs without getting him hurt again. Jameis Winston and Brandon Allen provide the veteran insurance behind him.

A roster remade: two top-10 picks and a receiver reunion

Schoen turned the wreckage of 4-13 into serious draft capital. The Giants made two first-round picks in April: Ohio State linebacker Arvell Reese at No. 5 — a selection that earned near-universal A grades, with one analyst declaring the Giants now own the scariest edge group in football alongside Burns — and Miami offensive lineman Francis Mauigoa at No. 10, acquired via a trade with Cincinnati. Second-round corner Colton Hood of Tennessee and Notre Dame receiver Malachi Fields, whom New York traded up to get, round out the headliners of a class the team believes is among the league's best. The veteran shopping was just as busy, concentrated almost entirely at receiver:

• Darnell Mooney and Calvin Austin III, signed in March
• Odell Beckham Jr., back in blue at 33 for a farewell act where his career began
• JuJu Smith-Schuster, who knows Nagy's system from their Kansas City overlap
• Braxton Berrios, a special-teams candidate after Gunner Olszewski's torn Achilles
• Cornerback Greg Newsome II, on a one-year, $3 million prove-it deal

Camp battles: cornerback chaos and a receiver numbers game

Two fights will define August. At corner, Paulson Adebo — who missed five games with a sprained MCL a year after signing a three-year, $54 million deal — tops a crowded room that includes Newsome, the rookie Hood, and former first-rounder Deonte Banks, who is running out of chances to justify his draft slot. At receiver, the math is brutal: Nabers, Darius Slayton, Mooney, Austin and Fields look like locks, which leaves Beckham, Smith-Schuster, Isaiah Hodgins and Berrios scrapping for what may be one or two jerseys. An Odell Beckham roster sweat at The Greenbrier is exactly the kind of theater this franchise has not produced in years. In the backfield, Skattebo — rehabbed from that gruesome ankle — and Tyrone Tracy Jr. sit atop the depth chart, with Devin Singletary and Eric Gray among those fighting for the third job. Keep an eye on the tight end room, too: Likely and Theo Johnson lead it, and Ricard's presence hints at the heavier, more physical formations Harbaugh has promised. Dart has already endorsed the identity shift, saying the roster fits the violent style his new coach wants to play — camp is where we find out if the offensive line agrees.

What's next on the New York Giants calendar

• July 23: Rookies report to The Greenbrier
• July 28: Veterans report; full-squad practices begin
• July 30 - August 7: Six free public practices, including Back Together Weekend on August 1
• August 15: Preseason opener vs. Minnesota at MetLife Stadium
• August 22: Preseason at Miami
• August 28: Preseason finale at the Jets
• September 13: Season opener vs. Dallas on Sunday Night Football, the first of back-to-back primetime games

The schedule-makers clearly believe in the show: the Giants open on Sunday night against the Cowboys, follow with Monday Night Football at the Rams, and drew four primetime dates in all. That is what happens when you pair a top-five coach with a quarterback the league is curious about. Whether this week's New York Giants news reads as the start of something or just a scenic detour through West Virginia depends on the same things it always does — the quarterback's health, the offensive line, and whether the new coach's standards survive contact with October. But for the first time in a while, the interesting questions around this team are about the ceiling, not the floor. Camp opens Thursday.