Insider: NY Giants could replace former top-10 pick with another this offseason

The New York Giants are entering a pivotal offseason under their current front-office regime, and one insider expects GM Joe Schoen to rectify one of the biggest mistakes of his short tenure.

In a Q&A mailbag for SNY, NFL insider Connor Hughes wrote that he anticipates New York to "actively" search for right tackle Evan Neal's replacement this offseason. Neal has been one of the NFL's worst offensive linemen since New York selected him seventh overall in 2022. He was Pro Football Focus' second-lowest rated tackle this season (39.8).

However, given the team's investment in him and his stellar collegiate career at Alabama, it's still too early to cut ties with the 23-year-old. Because of this, Hughes believes New York will look to slide Neal to guard and find a new right tackle through free agency or the 2024 NFL Draft. 

"He’s their right tackle … right now," Hughes wrote. "I’d expect the Giants to actively look for his replacement this offseason, though. This could come in the first round of the draft (Notre Dame’s Joe Alt, Penn State’s Olu Fashanu) or free agency (Michael Onwenu, Jonah Williams, Jermaine Eluemunor). They’ll kick Neal inside once they find that player."

The Giants hold the sixth overall pick in April's draft, and that should be within range to land Alt or Fashanu — the consensus top two offensive line prospects in the class.

Alt, a unanimous All-American, allowed just one sack and 13 total pressures for the Fighting Irish over the last two seasons. 

Fashanu, the 2023 Big Ten Offensive Lineman of the Year, never allowed a sack in his three-year Penn State career and surrendered just 17 pressures during that time.

While both Alt and Fashanu could go on to have impactful NFL careers (and would likely be considered upgrades over Neal), they might not be the best fit for the Giants at this time. Neither of the two prospects has experience playing right tackle, and the Giants don't need a left tackle, considering they have one of the league's best in Andrew Thomas.

Not to mention that, as ESPN's Jordan Raanan pointed out, the Giants have spent three top-10 draft picks on offensive linemen since 2014. No other team has drafted more than one offensive lineman with a top-10 selection in that span. With Thomas being the lone selection to pan out, and the fact that the team has so many holes elsewhere, it could be wise to spend the sixth pick on a different position. 

Adding a veteran in free agency could be New York's best path to bolstering its offensive line, with Onwenu and Eluemunor being candidates to keep an eye on. 

Both of the impending free agents have experience working with recently hired Giants offensive line coach Carmen Bricillo. Onwenu, specifically, turned in the best year of his career when Bricillo was his position coach in New England during the 2021 season (11 pressures, four QB hits and two sacks). 

Nonetheless, whichever route the Giants take is better than starting Neal at right tackle, where he has given up 10 sacks and 82 pressures in only 20 career games.