John Harbaugh is betting he can fix Giants bust: ‘Is it too late?’

Four years ago, on a windy late-April evening in Las Vegas, Evan Neal walked across the NFL Draft stage, proudly raised his right hand and smiled. He spread his massive arms wide and embraced commissioner Roger Goodell, patting him hard on the back. A few minutes later, in the backstage area, Neal ducked through a doorway and greeted his family.

Impossible to miss, he towered over a small, adoring group —6-foot-7 and 340 pounds, with those 34-inch arms and 10-inch hands. The Giants dreamed of Neal — universally considered an elite prospect out of Alabama — anchoring their long-struggling offensive line at right tackle for years to come, a perfect bookend to left tackle Andrew Thomas. But over the next four seasons, Neal faded into invisibility.

He struggled to block, couldn’t stay healthy, ripped Giants fans who booed him and lost his starting job in 2024. In 2025, he moved to guard and did not play a single snap that season. Then, out of nowhere, the Giants re- signed Neal on March 11, instead of letting him leave in free agency.

Though Neal got a bare-minimum one-year contract, it was one of this offseason’s most shocking moves, albeit a low-risk one for the Giants. So can new Giants coach John Harbaugh and his staff fix Neal? Might he suddenly become a productive starter for a team that desperately needs answers at right guard to protect second-year quarterback Jaxson Dart?