The New York Giants made a roster move this week that pretty much tells fans everything they need to know about where things stand with Evan Neal. The 2022 No. 7 overall pick was placed on injured reserve with a hamstring injury, and while that technically keeps the door cracked for a late-season return, everyone watching this team knows what this really is.
Mike Kaka said Evan Neal was injured during a workout and that's why the Giants placed him on IR. Neal hasn't played in a game all season. #Giants
— Evan Barnes (@evan_b) November 17, 2025
The 25-year-old hasn't come close to sniffing the field all season. And now that's more unlikely than ever.
Neal spent the first nine weeks of the season as a healthy scratch — not too hurt to play... simply not part of the plan. Even when he was finally active in Week 10, he didn’t take a snap. That alone said plenty about how the organization views the much-maligned offensive lineman. The IR move just adds an official stamp to something that’s been obvious for years.
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The G-Men declined his fifth-year option in the offseason, so the writing started showing up on the wall long before this hamstring issue. Throw in the fact that the front office couldn’t drum up a single trade offer for him before the deadline, and the picture gets even clearer: It’s officially the beginning of the end.
Giants’ IR move makes writing on the wall for Evan Neal impossible to ignore
Neal’s time in New York has been frustrating from every possible angle. The team tried everything — right tackle, left tackle in emergencies, and finally a switch to guard this offseason.
Interim head coach Mike Kafka told reporters Neal hurt his hamstring during a workout, which is the official reason he’s headed to IR. But even Kafka didn’t hide the reality that Neal wasn’t going to crack the lineup anyway. When a former top-10 pick ends up as a permanent gameday spectator, you don’t need an injury report to tell you where things stand.
This move also says something about how Big Blue is thinking long-term. They need roster spots for players who will actually factor into the future, and you know, play snaps. Neal hasn't been one of those in a long time.
The former Alabama standout will probably get a second chance somewhere next year — that’s usually how it goes with high draft picks of his pedigree — but that chance won’t be in East Rutherford. New York tried its best to make something work, tried its best to find a role, and tried to salvage the pick.
Since injured reserve automatically knocks a player out for four games, and the Giants only have six left, there isn’t much mystery about how this ends. The Evan Neal experience was never going to end cleanly, but at least everyone can see the finish line now.