NEW YORK — The Jacksonville Jaguars acquired guard Daniel Faalele from the New York Giants on Wednesday following a rash of injuries on their offensive line.
The Jaguars gave up a sixth-round draft pick in 2027 for Faalele, a 6-foot-8, 380-pound lineman, with the trade conditional upon him passing a physical.
“Just continuing to bring depth and guys that have played meaningful reps in this league," coach Liam Coen said after a joint practice with Carolina. "That’s something that you can’t have enough of. We came into camp with 16 (offensive linemen) and got down to about nine the other day.
"When you have some of those things occur, you want to continue to find guys that have done it, guys that have played in this league at a high level. He’s got some big size, and I’m looking forward to getting to know him. But the experience is really what matters.”
Jacksonville is down two starting linemen, and each could miss games early in the season.
Right guard Patrick Mekari recently had back surgery to alleviate a lingering issue and could start the season on short-term injured reserve, and starting right tackle Cole Van Lanen (knee) has missed all of training camp while on the physically unable to perform list. Backups Chuma Edoga, Walker Little and rookie Emmanuel Pregnon also have missed time recently in camp, although Pregnon has since returned to practice.
To make room for Faalele, the Jaguars waived offensive lineman Timothy McKay. The Giants filled their opening by claiming defensive tackle Ben Barten off waivers from the Jets.
Faalele had been taking second-team snaps at Giants training camp but lost his best chance at a starting role when the team selected Francis "Sisi" Mauigoa with the 10th pick and planned to make him a guard.
Faalele, 26, started all 17 games for now-Giants coach John Harbaugh with Baltimore each of the past two seasons. He played in 71 NFL games, all with the Ravens, since debuting in 2022, and was one of several players who followed Harbaugh to New York.
Trading Faalele could open the door for tackle-turned-guard Evan Neal to earn a spot on the 53-man roster. Neal, the seventh pick in 2022, surprisingly returned for a fresh start with a new coaching staff after not playing at all last season.
“I’ve seen great growth from Evan in his ability to take coaching and his ability try to understand not just how things look on paper but what certain alignments mean to him,” offensive line coach Mike Bloomgren said last week. “He’s playing with more confidence.”
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AP Pro Football Writer Mark Long in Jacksonville, Florida, contributed to this report.
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