Anthony Rivardo
The Giants picked up Kayvon Thibodeaux’s fifth-year option last spring and committed $14.751 million to him for 2026, then used the No. 3 overall pick on edge rusher Abdul Carter and watched Brian Burns finish second in the NFL in sacks. Thibodeaux answered with 2.5 sacks in 10 games before a shoulder injury ended his season on December 20.
A former top-five pick is now the third option in his own position room, on an expiring contract, in a defense that keeps stacking rushers. The 2026 season is a referendum on whether keeping him was the right call.
Thibodeaux’s production fell off a cliff in 2025
Thibodeaux managed just 2.5 sacks and 25 tackles across 10 games before landing on injured reserve with a shoulder injury, the lightest output of his career. The Giants drafted him fifth overall in 2022, expecting a double-digit-sack disruptor, and that player has surfaced only in flashes since.
The fifth-year option pays Thibodeaux $14.751 million in 2026, starter money for a player who no longer holds a starting job. After drafting Carter, Joe Schoen kept him anyway, telling reporters via the Giants that “you can’t have enough pass rushers.” That logic reads better in April than it will when the snap counts get divided in September.
Brian Burns and Abdul Carter already own the edge
Burns set a career high with 16.5 sacks in 2025, second in the NFL behind Myles Garrett, and earned second-team All-Pro honors while grading as one of PFF’s most productive edge defenders. Carter, as a rookie, generated 66 quarterback pressures and posted an 84.5 PFF pass-rush grade that ranked 11th among 115 qualified edge rushers, setting a Giants rookie record with 23 quarterback hits, per his PFF profile.
| Edge defender | 2025 sacks | Contract status |
|---|---|---|
| Brian Burns | 16.5 | signed long term |
| Abdul Carter | 5.0 (rookie) | rookie deal |
| Kayvon Thibodeaux | 2.5 | $14.751M option, expires after 2026 |
Two of those three are locked into the Giants’ future. The third is playing for his next contract on a team that does not need him to find it.
The Giants built a front Thibodeaux has to fit into, not lead
The Giants spent the No. 5 overall pick in 2026 on Arvell Reese, an off-ball linebacker with edge-rush traits, adding another disruptive body to a front that already ranked among the league’s best. New defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson runs a pressure-heavy scheme that can manufacture snaps for a rotational rusher, which is the realistic ceiling of Thibodeaux’s role now.
A healthy, focused season as a situational rusher on obvious passing downs is a real job, and one Thibodeaux can still do well, so none of this is an insult to his talent. The trouble is the distance between that job and the one his draft slot and salary imply.
A walk year with the leverage gone
Thibodeaux enters the last year of his rookie deal with no extension talks reported and a position group that no longer needs him as a centerpiece. The Giants told other teams a year ago that he was not available in a trade, but they changed their tune this offseason, shopping him in discussions before ultimately opting to hold on.
A strong, healthy year rebuilds his market and keeps him in the conversation in New York. Another 2.5-sack season ends it. The Giants bet on depth at edge, and Thibodeaux has one year to prove he is still part of the plan.
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