Giants trade guard Daniel Faalele to Jaguars for 2027 sixth-round pick
New York clears $1.075 million in cap space, and the move leaves Aaron Stinnie better positioned than Evan Neal for the backup right guard job.
The Giants traded guard Daniel Faalele to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Wednesday for a 2027 sixth-round draft pick. Newsday's Evan Barnes first reported the trade; the Associated Press and UPI confirmed it separately Wednesday morning. NFL insider Jordan Schultz first reported the compensation as an unspecified Day 3 pick; Jaguars beat writer Ryan O'Halloran of the Florida Times-Union later specified the sixth round.
The trade saves the Giants $1.075 million in salary-cap space against $187,500 in dead money, according to Over The Cap. Spotrac's own trade tracker confirmed the same $187,500 figure, noting the Giants retain that amount in signing-bonus proration while Jacksonville takes on Faalele's roughly $1.2 million 2026 salary. ProFootballRumors separately reported cap savings of about $1.08 million, consistent with those figures.
Faalele was a fourth-round pick by the Ravens in 2022. He has 35 career starts, 34 of them at right guard, including full 17-game seasons in 2024 and 2025. He allowed 30 pressures in 2025 and 62 since becoming a full-time starter in 2024 — tied for 27th-most among offensive linemen over that span, according to Pro Football Focus grading cited by SI/OnSI. He signed a one-year, $1.4 million contract with the Giants in April to reunite with head coach John Harbaugh, who coached him in Baltimore. Two weeks later, the Giants drafted Francis Mauigoa 10th overall and installed him as the starting right guard, pushing Faalele into a backup role at left guard, a position he had not played in the regular season since turning pro.
Sports Illustrated's OnSI Giants site projected Aug. 17 — two days before the trade — that the Giants would keep undrafted rookie Ryan Schernecke over Faalele for the final offensive-line roster spot. The projection cited a 0.0 Pro Football Focus pass-blocking grade from Faalele's Aug. 15 preseason debut against Minnesota, the lowest grade of any Giants offensive lineman that week. He surrendered a pressure that turned into a sack on the play, according to Big Blue Interactive's game review. Wednesday's trade netted New York a draft pick rather than the release SI/OnSI had already forecast.
The Giants' backup right guard job behind Mauigoa is now a competition between Evan Neal and Aaron Stinnie. The team's first unofficial depth chart, released Aug. 13, listed an "or" between the two players for that spot. Josh Ezeudu has been working at backup right tackle, a separate job that Faalele's departure does not affect.
In the preseason opener against Minnesota, Neal played 20 snaps at third-team right guard and graded as the weakest offensive lineman on the roster that week, according to SI/OnSI. Stinnie played 18 snaps at second-team left guard in the same game and also allowed a sack, per Big Blue Interactive — but he has allowed just eight pressures on 254 offensive snaps across his first two Giants seasons, according to SI/OnSI's PFF-sourced figures. SI/OnSI wrote Wednesday that Faalele's departure may help Stinnie solidify his roster spot.
Jaguars coach Liam Coen confirmed the addition Wednesday, telling reporters: "Just continuing to bring depth and guys that have played meaningful reps in this league."