One of the first free agent priorities for the Giants this past week was re-signing right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor, ensuring that the offensive line would be returning at least four out of five starters from the 2025 season. With Eluemunor under contract, New York only needs to fill its right guard spot now, left vacant as Greg Van Roten hits the free agent market.
The team did re-sign former seventh overall pick Evan Neal, who has failed to live up to his draft status in four years with team, but they’re eyes were clearly set on bigger fish to fill the role. After analyzing the options available on the free agent market, though, the Giants may return to the familiar. In their view, the crop of guards available could certainly be serviceable starters, but they aren’t worth the price they’re going for at the moment.
One such option is former Browns starting guard Wyatt Teller. A three-time Pro Bowler who twice earned second-team All-Pro honors, Teller certainly has displayed a high level of play during his time in Cleveland. While New York would be interested in Teller filling their hole at right guard, his $10MM per year price tag has made them balk at the prospect of signing him. ESPN’s Jordan Raanan has gone so far as to say that the Giants are “no longer willing to pay a mid-tier guard,” ruling them out of signing options like Teller, Joel Bitonio, or Dylan Parham. Connor Hughes of SportsNet New York believes that, because of this, the team could revisit re-signing Van Roten off the open market.
Lastly in New York, veteran kicker Graham Gano remains on the team’s roster at this time, but Dan Duggan of The Athletic, does not believe that will be the case for long. Duggan asserts that his continued presence could be related to the Injury Protection Benefit in the players’ Collective Bargaining Agreement. Regardless, he does not believe Gano will be on the roster next year.
Here are a few other rumors concerning free agency from around the NFL:
- Since entering the NFL three years ago, Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey has left no doubt that he is one of the premier placekickers in the NFL. In three years of play, Aubrey has three Pro Bowl selections, one first-team All-Pro honor, and two second-team All-Pro honors. Recognizing his greatness, the Cowboys have already offered to make him the highest-paid kicker in the NFL, raising the current highest annual average salary of $6.5MM with a $7.5MM offer, but no deal has gotten done, as Aubrey’s agent is asking for $10MM per year. Per Joseph Hoyt of The Dallas Morning News Aubrey was hoping that Dallas allowing him to test the market as a restricted free agent would show that other teams would match the value he’s seeking, but the second-round tender Dallas placed on him might prevent that from occurring.
- We had known that the Browns would be saying goodbye to the abovementioned Teller and veteran tight end David Njoku, and we had even speculated that a post-June 1 designation could assist the team in both transactions. Well, this week, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reported the final post-June 1 designations, and as expected, both Teller and Njoku were on that list. Cleveland will get some cap relief as a result of applying the designation to each departure.
- Former Panthers defensive tackle A’Shawn Robinson was released from Carolina the day before the start of the new league year, and he immediately signed the next day with the Buccaneers. According to Greg Auman of FOX Sports, Robinson explained that, when the Panthers granted him permission to seek a trade, Tampa Bay was one of two teams with which he communicated — the other being San Francisco. When no trade developed and he became a free agent with his release from the team, his prior experience talking to the Buccaneers laid a clear path forward.