In another example of new head coach John Harbaugh‘s influence in New York, the Giants are re-signing offensive lineman Evan Neal, per his agency, AMDG Sports. It will be a one-year deal for a veteran-minimum salary, per Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post.
The former No. 7 pick was expected to leave New York this offseason after not appearing in a single game in 2025. The Giants had high hopes that Neal could form an elite bookend duo with left tackle Andrew Thomas, but the former Alabama star never lived up to his draft billing.
Neal missed four games as a rookie due to an MCL sprain. When healthy, he graded out as one of the worst right tackles in the NFL, per Pro Football Focus (subscription required). Neal only only appeared in 16 games over the next two years and continued to struggle in pass protection, though his run-blocking grade jumped to 80.8 in 2024.
The Giants declined Neal’s fifth-year option last offseason and attempted to move Neal to guard, but the transition never took. He instead spent the season as a healthy scratch until November, when a hamstring injury forced him on injured reserve.
At that point, it truly seemed that Neal’s rocky tenure in New York was over. Another team may want to roll the dice on his obvious physical gifts, but the Giants could not figure it out in four years. Multiple reports indicated that Neal would be leaving the team after he landed on injured reserve, but Harbaugh must have a different perspective and plenty of faith in new offensive line coach Mike Bloomgren.
lmaoooo we are a joke.
Wow Harbaugh must have overruled Shoen for this to have happened!
Bloomgren gets to find out what raising the Titanic is like …
Harbaugh insisting on keeping Neal on the roster just to humiliate and further undermine Joe Schoen.
Maybe the Giants just needed a new burger flipper in the team cafeteria?
Hey hey hey, you’re being needlessly disrespectful.
Burger flippers have way faster reflexes than Evan Neal. He can stir the morning oatmeal and maybe work his way up to lunch soups.
Well we never got to see the transition to guard so maybe it is worth a try. At least as a depth piece.