Jon Runyan Jr. is walking into a summer where the numbers are doing a lot of the talking for the Giants.
He’s in the final year of the three-year, $30 million deal he signed in 2024, and New York can move on from him this summer and clear $9.25 million in cap space. That kind of figure puts a player right on the edge, and in Runyan’s case it makes his roster spot feel like a live issue before camp even gets rolling.
The financial picture is straightforward. Runyan is set to carry an $11.75 million cap hit in 2026, including a $9 million base salary, with just $2.5 million in dead money left on the contract, according to Spotrac.
If the Giants release him, they get that $9.25 million savings. For a team that just traded Dexter Lawrence for a top-10 pick, that kind of clean exit matters.
The front office has already shown it’s willing to part with expensive veterans when the math turns against them.
The on-field numbers don’t help Runyan much either. In 2025, he posted a 52.9 overall PFF grade, which ranked 67th among 81 qualified guards.
His run-blocking grade dropped to a career-low 49.2, per his PFF page. That’s not the kind of production that makes a $9 million salary easy to defend, especially for a staff that wants to line up and run downhill.
That’s where the Harbaugh connection comes in. John Harbaugh built his coaching identity on winning at the line of scrimmage, and one of his first moves in New York was bringing in a guard he already trusted. Even so, Runyan’s position was shaky before the pads came on.
And the competition around him is real.
Daniel Faalele arrived on a one-year, $1.4 million deal with a cap hit of just $1.26 million, and Harbaugh’s blueprint followed him to New York. PFF ranked the 6-foot-8 lineman 51st among 79 qualified guards in 2025, which put him ahead of Runyan while costing a fraction of the money. Faalele worked at interior spots this spring, former first-round pick Evan Neal is another player who could move inside, and rookie Francis Mauigoa is already lined up at right guard.
That makes the battle around Runyan cheaper, younger, and very much alive.
The rest of the interior only sharpens the pressure. Center John Michael Schmitz is in a contract year too, coming off a 60.8 PFF grade that placed him 29th among 40 centers, but his $4.33 million cap hit makes him easier to keep than Runyan.
Andrew Thomas remains the one settled star on the line, carrying a $24 million cap number at left tackle, though his health is a major variable. Beyond Thomas, nothing is locked in.
Runyan still has a case to make. He’s a technically sound veteran, and his pass protection remains solid.
But the Giants are paying starter money for a guard whose run blocking fell near the bottom of the league, while a cheaper option next to him graded better. That’s the tension heading into camp at The Greenbrier.
Runyan has to prove he’s worth the price. Right now, the cap sheet says he isn’t.
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