The New York Giants were seemingly on the one-yard line in contract negotiations with Alijah Vera-Tucker until talks fell through and he decided to sign with the New England Patriots. As soon as that deal fell through, the expectation was that the Giants would pivot to try to sign Wyatt Teller instead.
The Giants were believed to have a good shot at signing Teller, especially after they hired his old OL coach Mike Bloomgren to take over for Carmen Bricillo. However, that connection didn't matter, as Big Blue's interest wasn't enough; as with Vera-Tucker, they lost out on another top free agent guard.
According to NFL Network's Mike Garafolo, the Houston Texans agreed to terms on a two-year deal with the 33-year-old. This hurts because one of these two players should be a Giant right now, but instead, Greg Van Roten and Jon Runyan are likely to be the starting offensive guards again in 2026.
Dream Giants' free agent target Wyatt Teller is signing with the Houston Texans
The three-time Pro Bowler worked with Bloomgren this past season in Cleveland, but his recruitment pitch wasn't enough. The Giants badly needed help on the interior of their offensive line, but instead of utilizing their cap space to make an attainable splash signing, Joe Schoen did what he does best.
Teller was the best offensive guard available and had been heavily linked to the G-Men in recent days, but Schoen, ever the conservative, was unwilling to match Houston's price. They lost out on Dylan Parham too, and could still lose out on Joel Bitonio, so time is running out for a major move on the OL.
As of now, the Giants have only re-signed players on the offensive line, which includes another year of the Evan Neal experiment. For all of the good things they have done in John Harbaugh's first offseason as head coach, it's clear that Schoen's stubbornness is still holding a great franchise back.
The two-time All-Pro is not the elite guard he once was for the Browns a couple of seasons back, but at the very worst, he would've been serviceable. I understand not paying Vera-Tucker, given his lengthy injury history, but Teller is about as durable and reliable as they come on the offensive line.
The offensive line has been a sore spot for the Giants for years now, but they are not doing anything to make it better. Watch them fail to address the OL early on in the 2026 NFL Draft in favor of someone like Caleb Downs or Mansoor Delane, which will only make these misses look even worse.