Preparing for what could be his final season with the New York Giants, Evan Neal is working at the position he played as a freshman at Alabama.

After earning recognition as a consensus All-American as the left offensive tackle for the Crimson Tide in 2021, Neal joined the Giants as the 10th pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.

Neal went right into New York’s lineup at right tackle, but injuries caused him to miss four games in 2022, 10 in 2023 and eight in 2024.

At the Giants’ OTA practice on Wednesday, Neal worked at left guard. He earned freshman All-American recognition playing left guard for Alabama in 2019 before manning right tackle for the Crimson Tide’s undefeated CFP national-championship team in 2020.

“Evan’s a smart guy,” Giants coach Brian Daboll said before practice on Wednesday. “He’ll be out here today. We will work him at guard, and I know he’s excited about the opportunity he has. …

“He’s a big man. He’s got length. He’s obviously a little bit taller than I’d say traditional guards, but he’s played it. He’s played a number of positions since he’s been at University of Alabama. He’s been working hard this last month and a half and look forward to getting him out there.”

Neal had ankle surgery on Jan. 2, 2024, spent the first three weeks of last year’s training camp on the physically-unable-to-perform list and opened the 2024 season as the backup to free-agent signee Jermaine Eluemunor at right tackle.

Neal returned to the starting spot on Nov. 10 when Eluemunor moved to left tackle after Andrew Thomas sustained a season-ending injury.

Last month, the Giants declined their option for a fifth season on Neal’s rookie contract, putting him on course to become an unrestricted free agent next offseason.

Like all first-round picks, Neal signed a four-year contract with a team option for a fifth season. Of his original $24.551 million deal, Neal still has a $1.1 million base salary and a $2.953 roster bonus (due the third day of training camp) coming in 2025.

If the Giants had used the fifth-year option, they would have guaranteed Neal a $16.685 million payday for the 2026 season. The fifth-year option figure is the average of the third- through 25th-highest salaries among offensive linemen over the past five seasons.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.