John Harbaugh knows exactly what kind of team he has to build in New York. The NFC East is a street fight every year, and right now, the Philadelphia Eagles are the ones holding the title belt. Harbaugh made it clear recently: if the Giants want to climb the ladder, they need to build a team capable of knocking off the champs.
“The Eagles are the champs,” Harbaugh said. “So, we have to build a team to beat the Eagles. Everything we do, every practice we have, every film session will be with that in mind.”
That’s not just coach-speak. It’s a mission statement.
And if you’ve watched the Eagles over the last two seasons, you know exactly what Harbaugh is talking about - Philly dominates in the trenches. Their offensive and defensive lines are deep, physical, and relentless.
So if the Giants want to close the gap, it starts with their own offensive front.
“You better build an offensive line all across the board,” Harbaugh said. “Especially interior offensive line that can handle those monsters they have playing up front.”
That brings us to one of the Giants’ biggest offseason decisions: what to do with veteran right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor.
Eluemunor is coming off the best season of his career, and he’s not just a stopgap - he’s become a reliable, durable piece of the puzzle. Unless the Giants have a rock-solid plan to replace him, letting him walk would raise real questions about how serious they are about building that “all across the board” line Harbaugh is talking about.
At 31, Eluemunor is a late bloomer by NFL standards. Drafted by the Ravens in 2017 - when Harbaugh was still in Baltimore - he bounced around a bit before finding his footing with the Raiders in 2022.
Since then, he’s quietly turned into one of the more dependable right tackles in the league. In 2025, he logged a career-high 1,088 snaps, posted a career-best 79.1 Impact Score according to Pro Football and Sports Network, and allowed just 19 pressures all season.
His 98.0 pass blocking efficiency grade from Pro Football Focus was also a personal best.
Re-signing Eluemunor would give the Giants some much-needed stability on the right side and open up flexibility elsewhere. For example, they could take a longer look at 2025 fifth-round pick Marcus Mbow at guard.
Greg Van Roten is a pending free agent and will be 36 next season, and Jon Runyan Jr. could be a cap casualty - so the interior line is very much a work in progress. Keeping Eluemunor would allow the Giants to plug Mbow into a more natural competition at guard rather than throwing him into the fire at tackle.
It would also give the front office the freedom to focus on other positions with the No. 5 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. Whether that’s a playmaker, a pass rusher, or even another offensive lineman, it’s always better to draft from a position of strength - not desperation.
But there are reasons to pause.
One question the Giants have to ask themselves is whether Eluemunor’s success is tied to the coaching he’s received. Since leaving Baltimore, he’s been coached exclusively by Carmen Bricillo - first in New England, then in Las Vegas, and most recently with the Giants. With Mike Bloomgren now overseeing the offensive line, there’s a fair question about whether Eluemunor can maintain that same level of performance in a new system.
There’s also the matter of Mbow himself. While he had an up-and-down rookie season, the Giants may believe he has the tools to eventually be a starting right tackle.
He allowed 26 pressures in 209 pass-blocking snaps - not ideal - but development isn’t always linear. If the coaching staff sees a leap coming, that could factor into their decision.
Then there’s the draft. The Giants could be eyeing prospects like Spencer Fano (Utah) or Francis Mauigoa (Miami), both of whom project as right tackles at the next level. If they fall in love with one of those guys, that might push them toward letting Eluemunor walk and resetting the position with a younger, cheaper option.
Money, as always, looms large. Eluemunor is coming off a two-year, $14 million deal and likely views this offseason as his best shot at a bigger payday.
Spotrac projects his next deal in the range of two years, $17.3 million - about $8.6 million per year. But if the bidding climbs into the $10-12 million range annually, that might be a bridge too far for the Giants.
Especially if they believe 2025 was Eluemunor’s ceiling.
So what’s the move?
If the price doesn’t spiral out of control, bringing Eluemunor back makes a lot of sense. He’s a known commodity, he fits the system, and he gives the Giants a solid foundation at a premium position. That kind of stability is hard to find - and even harder to replace.
Mbow has promise, but he didn’t show enough in 2025 to justify handing him the keys just yet. Re-signing Eluemunor doesn’t prevent the Giants from drafting an offensive lineman, either. In fact, it could allow them to ease a rookie like Mauigoa into the lineup at guard - a position some scouts believe suits him better early in his career - before potentially kicking him outside down the road.
Bottom line: if Harbaugh is serious about building a line that can stand toe-to-toe with the Eagles, keeping one of his most dependable linemen around feels like a smart first step.