Jaguars To Acquire G Daniel Faalele

After spending the first four years of his career in Baltimore, the 6-foot-8, 370-pound Faalele followed head coach John Harbaugh to New York in free agency. Although Faalele started all 34 of the Ravens’ games from 2024-25, the Australian settled for a one-year, $1.4MM contract with just $687,500 in guaranteed money. This trade will free up $1.08MM in spending space for the Giants, who will take on a meager $187,500 in dead cap.

The Giants brought in Faalele to potentially compete for a starting job, but a couple weeks after they added him, Big Blue drafted Francis Mauigoa with the 10th overall pick. Mauigoa is now a shoo-in to start at right guard, while seventh-year veteran and third-year Giant Jon Runyan Jr. will continue to man the left side. An early summer rumor indicated Faalele could potentially push Runyan off the roster, which would have meant significant cap savings for the Giants. Instead, several weeks later, they are moving on from Faalele.

The reigning AFC South champion Jaguars entered the guard market after Patrick Mekari‘s recent back surgery. They expect Mekari to play this season, but he is going to miss time, according to Mike Garafolo of NFL Network. Mekari, who was teammates with Faalele in Baltimore from 2022-24, started in all 14 appearances at right guard in his first season with Jacksonville last year. He finished 2025 as Pro Football Focus’ 68th-ranked guard out of 78 qualifiers.

While also lining up on the right side, Faalele played over 99% of the Ravens’ offensive snaps over the past two seasons. PFF rated Faalele’s performance 51st at his position last year. With Mekari likely out for the foreseeable future, Faalele will give Jacksonville a healthy, experienced option to join a right guard mix that also includes 2025 third-rounder Wyatt Milum and rookie third-rounder Emmanuel Pregnon.