Jaguars Trade With Giants for Ex-NFL Starter After Injury News: Report
· Yahoo Sports
Injuries are lining up for the Jacksonville Jaguars, and desperate times call for desperate measures.
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After a good chunk of their offensive line turned up on the injured list ahead of their joint practices with the Carolina Panthers, Jaguars needed players to simply fill out spots. That’s why the front office decided to play a gamble on Thursday morning with their latest signing.
For a 2027 seventh-round pick, the Jaguars signed Giants offensive lineman Daniel Faalele, as first reported by Evan Barnes and later confirmed by insiders ESPN’s Jordan Schultz and Mike Garafolo.
Jaguars Needed This Trade
GettyJacksonville Jagaurs suffering a barrage of injuries ahead of preseason game 2.
Patrick Mekari was the lock at RG until his lingering back problems flared up this offseason, forcing him to stay on the sidelines.
Since he just underwent surgery for it, chances are Mekari stays on the injured list for a while, and potentially on the IR list. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg for the nightmare-ish situation unfolding in Jacksonville.
Injuries have wiped out almost the entire interior depth. Sophomore guard Wyatt Milum is sidelined due to his undisclosed injury. Cole Van Lanen is on the active PUP list. Versatile edge/guard Chuma Edoga was also banged up during a preseason game, although he is expected to return soon.
The only good news was Walker Little coming back to practice on Wednesday. That leaves him and Emmanuel Pregnon shouldering the entire load.
Having a fully experienced interior presence like Faalele was crucial for the Jaguars just to have players on the field against the Panthers.
The 17 games he started at guard for Baltimore last season, before joining the Giants, make him the most experienced, fully healthy interior lineman on the Jaguars’ roster, saving them from leaning entirely on unproven depth for Week 1.
Mekari has a high chance of ending up on the IR with a return tag, meaning he misses at least the first four games. A proven starter like Faalele buys time for Jacksonville until then, and prevents the interior from entirely collapsing even before the season starts.
Giving up only a late 2027 seventh-round pick for a starter they urgently needed means general manager Trent Baalke paid practically nothing.
Faalele’s a John Harbaugh Guy
GettyJaguars sign Giants’ Daniel Faalele in latest trade.
The only peculiar thing is that Faalele’s a John Harbaugh guy through and through. Before signing with the Giants, the 2022 NFL Draft prospect was handpicked by John Harbaugh’s team.
That’s why, when he made the jump to head coach of the Giants, bringing in familiar Baltimore draft picks like Faalele was part of building his interior culture.
The Giants signed Faalele just a few months back, and he was even taking second-team snaps at the training camp. But he lost his best chance at a starting role when New York drafted Francis Mauigoa with the 10th pick and planned to make him a guard.
With Mauigoa a lock at the right guard, Faalele was moved over to left guard—a side he had virtually never played as a pro. After struggling through awkward preseason reps on the left side, he became surplus goods in East Rutherford. It fit perfectly in Jacksonville’s crisis.
Coen got a 380-pound heavy interior presence who spent the last three years taking real regular-season snaps on the right side of the line in Baltimore, becoming an absolute steal for the Jags.
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