Jon Halapio once looked like the Giants’ center of the future until he tore his Achilles in the final game of last season.

Now his incredible comeback story will have to continue someplace else.

The 29-year-old center, who re-signed with the Giants less than a week ago, turned down their offer to sign with their practice squad on Sunday morning, according to a source. When Halapio returned, he thought the Giants plan was to keep him on their 53-man roster, the source said, and he was surprised when he got the call on Saturday that he was cut.

If he clears waivers on Sunday afternoon, his plan is to sign somewhere else. He has already drawn interest from at least four teams, a source said.

It’s unclear exactly what the Giants intentions were when they signed Halapio last Wednesday. Obviously they wanted to check and see if he was healthy, but the late signing didn’t give him a chance to actually get on the field with the team. And since the Giants seem committed to Nick Gates as their starting center and kept Spencer Pulley as the backup, the practice squad made sense.

But it does not appear they ever discussed that option with Halapio before they cut him on Saturday. He was surprised and disappointed, according to a source, though he remains grateful for all the Giants organization has done for him in the past.

Halapio was originally a sixth-round pick of the Patriots in 2014, though he didn’t make it out of training camp. After bouncing around NFL camps and practice squads, he landed on the Giants practice squad in 2016 and made his NFL debut in 2017. By Week 12 of that year he was in the lineup as a starting guard.

The next season he won the starting center job in camp, but suffered a horrific injury in Week 2 when he broke his right ankle and lower leg, immediately ending his season. He fought all the way back, though, and was named the starting center again in 2019. He started 15 games before he tore his Achilles in the season finale.

A little more than eight months later, though, he seems to be fully recovered, healthy and ready to play again. Only now he’ll be playing for someone else.

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