Anthony Rivardo
The Giants’ run defense was embarrassing last year, but veteran LB Tremaine Edmunds is the kind of signing that can fix the unit. New York spent the entire previous season letting opposing running backs dictate the terms of engagement, turning what should have been an aggressive defensive front into a fundamentally broken unit.
By bringing in a steady, veteran anchor who excels at simply doing his job, Big Blue is betting that stability—not highlight-reel plays—is the antidote to their defensive woes.
The Giants’ run defense was pitiful in 2025
The Giants spent the last year getting gashed on the ground, ranking 31st in the NFL against the run, and ranking among the worst in the league at preventing positive yardage before contact.
The team ultimately decided to part ways with team captain Bobby Okereke, a move that signaled a complete structural overhaul of the second level. To replace that production and inject immediate discipline into the box, general manager Joe Schoen reunited with a familiar face from his Buffalo days, securing Edmunds after he was released by the Chicago Bears in a cap-clearing move.
What Edmunds brings to Big Blue isn’t a miraculous pass rush, but a rare combination of elite physical traits and veteran diagnostic skills. Standing at 6-foot-5 and 250 pounds, the 28-year-old still possesses the sideline-to-sideline speed that made him a first-round pick back in 2018.
More importantly, he is a tackling machine with a proven track record of consistency, having amassed over 100 total tackles in every single one of his eight NFL seasons. In his 13 starts last year with Chicago, he logged 112 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, and 4 interceptions, proving he can still disrupt passing lanes while flowing heavily to the ball against the run.
Tremaine Edmunds and Arvell Reese represent an overhauled Giants LB corps
If this defense is going to take a leap, it will be because Edmunds provides a solid floor for a reimagined linebacker room that now also features highly anticipated rookie fifth-overall pick Arvell Reese.
Edmunds’ stellar 80.8 PFF run-defense grade last season ranked 17th among all qualified NFL linebackers, highlighting a technical soundness that the Giants desperately lacked.
If he can step into the middle of this defense, command the front, and replicate that efficiency, this signing won’t make many national headlines—but it will quietly solve the team’s most glaring deficiency.
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