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Jaxson Dart is known for being anything but a skeptic.
When he meets new people, he’s likely to get along with them and has a knack for offering a kind word or two.
During the Giants’ search for a new head coach, Dart took the opportunity to drop by the team’s facility whenever he could, eager to greet and get to know the potential candidates.
While his interactions were pleasant and seamless, they didn’t provide much insight when later asked about his impressions of those candidates.
“Jaxson is incredibly positive, so he had nothing but great things to say about everyone he met,” General Manager Joe Schoen remarked on Tuesday following the official introduction of John Harbaugh as the 21st head coach in Giants history.
Dart was one of the strongest magnets to attract Harbaugh to a team coming off a 4-13 season. Harbaugh after 18 years was fired by the Ravens on Jan. 6 and he immediately went to work scouting the teams he might be interested in joining — they all wanted him. He essentially had only two starting quarterbacks during his time in Baltimore — Joe Flacco and Lamar Jackson.
He took a long, hard look at Dart and came away impressed.
“The quarterback is kind of important,’’ Harbaugh said. “That’s kind of a big deal. I’m excited about Jaxson Dart.

“It starts with the quarterback for sure. You build your team around your quarterback. You build your team around your players and what they do well. I like the way he plays. I like his talent, skill set, all the things he’s accomplished, but more than that, I like who he is and what he’s about. To me, he’s about football. This young guy loves football. … He wants to talk football all the time and that’s kind of what I like doing too. So, I think we’re going to have a lot of great conversations. I can’t wait to get started with him.’’
Dart went 4-8 as a rookie starter, with 24 total touchdowns (15 passing, nine rushing) and only five interceptions.
The Giants knew that Dart would be an asset in their pursuit of Harbaugh and made sure to connect them early and often in the process.

Nevertheless, Dart beat them to it.
“He had had a conversation on the phone with Coach Harbaugh that we didn’t set it up,’’ Schoen said. “They did it on their own, which was pretty cool. And then they spent some time together during the [in-person] interview. Two guys that love ball. We had to pull them out of the room because we had to speed things along.”
There will be plenty of time for Harbaugh and Dart to continue those conversations.