Could Nick Saban to the Giants be a legitimate proposition this time? 

While a source familiar with Saban’s thinking said Saban has zero interest in the Giants’ job, Bruce Arians has jump-started the rumors.  The recently retired Cardinals coach dropped speculation Tuesday that the Giants’ head-coaching position would be the sole opening to pull Saban from the comforts of Alabama back to the unproven ground of the NFL. 

“It would not surprise me,” Arians said, when asked on “The Herd with Colin Cowherd” if Saban might consider taking another shot at the pros. “ And there’s a job he covets.  It just happens to be open.  But he’s got a dynasty right now, another dynamite recruiting class.  Why he would do it, I don’t know, but it wouldn’t shock me if he did.” 

Arians, who has never coached with Saban but was the Alabama running backs coach in 1981-82 and offensive coordinator in 1997, confirmed the one job he was referring to was with the team that had the first vacancy this season.  The Giants fired second-year coach Ben McAdoo on Dec. 4, with four games left in their season. 

“Because they’re the New York Giants.  When we grew up, they were the thing,” Arians said about what Saban’s motivation might be to leave the Crimson Tide, especially after winning his sixth national championship Monday night and fifth with Alabama. 

A Giants source did not have any real reaction to Arians’ assertion of Saban’s desire to come to the Giants. 

“Has Nick Saban reached out to the Giants and said, ‘I’d like to talk to you about your job if you’re still looking for a head coach?’  Not to my knowledge,” the source said. 

Saban’s name has surfaced in Giants coaching discussions before, including in the first year of McAdoo’s brief tenure.  Actor and comedian Tom Arnold, who has personal ties to co-owner Steve Tisch, sent the Giants community into a frenzy in October 2016, when he said boxing promoter Bob Arum called the Giants about the opening on Saban’s behalf mere hours before McAdoo inked his deal on Jan. 14. 

When the Giants pushed Saban to make a quick decision with McAdoo waiting in the ranks, Arnold claimed, the potential signing splash fell through.  Saban was asking for a $10 million contract, Arnold added. 

A Giants spokesman denied the claims at the time. 

If the wildly unlikely does happen this time, one Giants leader might not be on board.  Pro Bowl safety Landon Collins revealed he didn’t “like” Saban’s strict coaching style when he played under him at Alabama from 2012-14, and for that reason wouldn’t welcome the Giants hiring Bill Belichick, which also has been rumored. 

“The way he runs his organization, I’ve been through that process.  I don’t like it,” Collins said while in Atlanta to watch his alma mater defeat Georgia 26-23 in overtime. “ It’s too strict. ….  He’s a great winner, he’s a great coach.  I don’t know if [his style] is what the organization really wants. 

“I talked to guys who played for [his] team.  They love winning, but at the same time, they don’t want to be on the team.” 

Saban, 66, has had two stints in the NFL during his storied career, as defensive coordinator of the Browns from 1991-94 and head coach of the Dolphins from 2005-06.  He took the Alabama job after going 15-17 in two seasons in Miami.