Trading offensive lineman Daniel Faalele never felt inevitable. Still, any chance of him winning the starting right guard job all but evaporated the second the New York Giants took Francis Mauigoa with the 10th overall pick in the 2026 Draft and moved him from tackle to guard.
On Wednesday, New York sent the 26-year-old to the Jacksonville Jaguars for a 2027 sixth-round pick -- L.L. Bean-level fleece.
Faalele, who spent the first four seasons of his career with the Baltimore Ravens, followed head coach John Harbaugh up I-95 to East Rutherford earlier this offseason. Now that move felt inevitable, but he never really found his footing in the 133 days he was with Big Blue, and a miserable preseason opener was the straw that broke nostalgia's back.
Harbaugh famously loves to accumulate as many draft picks as possible to build his trademark roster depth. But even with Jacksonville’s pick added to the pile, the G-Men only have six picks for the 2027 Draft. Fortunately, that gives Harby and Co. plenty of time to amass as many picks as they can between now and April -- something I reckon will be high on NY's priority list.
Giants’ full list of 2027 draft picks after Daniel Faalele trade
General manager Joe Schoen will need to stay aggressive on the trade market to keep his new head coach happy. Grabbing a late-round flyer helps, but a quick look at the updated draft heap shows the Giants are still behind where Harbs would ideally like them to be.
Here's what Big Blue's 2027 Draft situation looks like after netting a sixth-rounder from Jacksonville:
Current draft picks
- Round 1: Own pick
- Round 2: Own pick
- Round 3: Own pick
- Round 5: Own pick
- Round 6: Own pick
- Round 6: Jaguars pick (Faalele trade)
Traded draft picks
- Round 4: Traded to the Cleveland Browns during the 2026 draft for WR Malachi Fields
- Round 7: Traded to the Miami Dolphins in the Darren Waller trade
In his 18 years with the Ravens, the 63-year-old averaged 8.9 picks per draft, nearly two more than your usual seven. It's no surprise that he only had three losing seasons during his tenure. More picks means another kick at the can.
They managed to do that through a mix of trade-back opportunities and taking full advantage of the compensatory pick formula. Let's hope a little bit of that rubs off on the G-Men.
Missing their fourth- and seventh-round picks means Schoen still has some work to do. And while he’s busy doing what he can to make Harbs happy in the building, Faalele is indirectly making his former head coach happy, too (just from a little further away).
He might not be helping Harbaugh on the field anymore, but he could still help the Giants down the road with whatever player they land with that incoming sixth-rounder.
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