John Harbaugh watching Jaxson Dart, Cam Ward film

John Harbaugh was one missed 44-yard field goal away from spending his Saturday afternoon watching film of the Texans and preparing for the Ravens’ playoff opponent.

Instead, Harbaugh spent his Saturday watching film of the Giants’ Jaxson Dart and Titans’ Cam Ward – the top two quarterbacks selected in the 2025 NFL Draft — as he prepares to be part of both teams’ head coaching searches, according to The Athletic.

After coaching Joe Flacco to a Super Bowl title and Lamar Jackson to two NFL MVPs, Harbaugh is no stranger to the idea that having a franchise quarterback in place makes life easier.

The most attractive thing that both the Giants (4-13) and Titans (3-14) can offer after their miserable seasons is the young quarterback.

Who will Harbaugh prefer?

Dart had the better rookie season by any statistical measure, even though he missed two games due to a concussion.

And many offensive-minded coaches contacted by The Post about the desirability of the Giants’ vacancy cited Dart as a strong positive. 

But Ward went No. 1 for a reason. The Giants tried to trade up from No. 3 to select him before pivoting to Dart at pick No. 25. 

Harbaugh is expected to begin scheduling in-person interviews with interested teams — keep the Falcons, who need to hire a general manager, and the Dolphins on that short list — by the end of the weekend.

Harbaugh, who earned $17 million per season with the Ravens, is going to command a salary commensurate with the top of the market (Andy Reid’s $20 million) and a big financial investment in his coaching and support staffs, as The Post’s Paul Schwartz previously reported.

He puts a big emphasis on the strength and conditioning and analytics departments in particular.

Considering that Harbaugh reportedly refused to fire offensive coordinator Todd Monken in Baltimore despite his clashes with Jackson, it seems likely he would want to bring Monken with him to his next step.

“I didn’t coach Lamar well enough,” Monken told Ryan Ripken this week. “I didn’t have as good of a relationship as I could have. I didn’t do the things we needed to do this year to win enough games to give ourselves a chance.

“I believe that. … I’m going to fight like hell for the next job I get.”