Some might have hoped the New York Giants would move Nate Solder to guard this season, but according to Jordan Raanan, that isn’t in the organization’s plans. That might come as a surprise to some, of course. Solder has struggled since joining the Giants and missed the last season entirely after opting out.
He’s not returning following a successful first couple of years to his Giants career. Rather, Solder will have to fight to keep a starting spot in the lineup and will make less money doing it thanks to a restructured contract.
Many thought the Giants would move Solder to guard because of these struggles and leave the tackle spot to others, but Raanan claims otherwise and says the Giants aren’t seriously considering it.
“He’ll go into training camp and they’ll move him around and look at that, but I don’t think that’s in their plans right now. I don’t think that’s something that they’re seriously considering or counting on,” Raanan told ESPN Radio’s Chris Carlin.
“He really has never played guard, I don’t think… All of these guys will play guard at some point in practice, so they might take a look at it but it’s not something they are planning on – at least from what I’ve heard,” Raanan continued.
While competing with Andrew Thomas and Matt Peart, there’s no guarantee that Solder ends up getting much time as a main option at tackle this season. The Giants were able to manage without him last season, so he’ll need to present an actual improvement to take back his old spot.
But with Solder having little experience at guard, this might be for the better. The last thing the Giants line needs is someone struggling to learn a new position.