“Not all slates are clean.” Those were the words of New York Giants head coach John Harbaugh on Tuesday, when he was asked about whether there would be changes to the roster under him during his media availability at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis.
What is Harbs referring to? He’s saying there will be changes to Big Blue’s roster next season, but there will also be continuity. Some players are locked into their roster spots and simply aren’t going anywhere this offseason.
Coach Harbaugh praised one player in particular and stated, for the most part, yes, there will be a clean slate; however, he likes one slate in particular. Who could he possibly be talking about? Well, it’s one veteran who is more valuable to the G-Men than fans may realize.
John Harbaugh does not any changes coming to the left tackle position
Harbaugh was talking about All-Pro left tackle Andrew Thomas, who is widely considered one of the best tackles in the league when healthy. Many Giants fans may have forgotten about the 2020 first-round pick’s impact with his recent injury history.
AT has started in just 29 games over the last three seasons. This past year, the 27-year-old started 13 games, playing 802 offensive snaps, which was 92 percent of the snaps he was available for.
The 6-foot-5, 315-pound tackle must stay healthy in 2026 to protect Jaxson Dart. We all saw what happened to the Giants’ signal caller when he didn’t slide or get the protection from his offensive line, and it resulted in the rookie being a frequent visitor to the blue medical tent.
Dart was evaluated for a concussion in 50 percent of his first 10 games, meaning he had at least five trips to the medical tent in that span. If that doesn’t tell you how important beefing up the offensive line and providing as much protection for the Giants’ young quarterback is, then what does?
The G-Men are expected to run it back at the guard positions with Jon Runyan and Greg Van Roten. They'll have Thomas, of course, manning the left tackle position. They are expected to re-sign Jermaine Eluemunor in free agency to play right tackle. Then the Giants can either plan to keep using John Michael Schmitz at center or look at former Raven Tyler Linderbaum in free agency, but as long as we have Thomas at left tackle, the offense is in good hands.
Harbaugh knows talent when he sees it, and the fact that he’s already seen it with Thomas before he’s even coached his first game as the Giants head coach tells you how valuable he is to this team and why he must stay healthy next season.