Brian Burns had the kind of 2025 season that should have put him near the top of any NFC East linebacker conversation. Instead, he got shoved down to No. 5 in a recent ranking, and Giants fans have every reason to roll their eyes.
The New York Giants are coming off a rough 4-13 season, but this offseason has at least given the fan base something to latch onto. John Harbaugh is in as the franchise’s next head coach, and the team also added multiple players through the NFL Draft and free agency. There’s a different feel around the roster now, even if last year’s record still hangs over everything.
One of the few clear bright spots from that 2025 mess was Burns, who earned All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors. He was the best player on the Giants last season, and the production backed it up: 16.5 sacks, 22 tackles for loss, and 31 quarterback hits, all career highs.
That’s why Zach Wolpin of Last Word On Sports drawing up a top-five list of NFC East linebackers and placing Burns fifth stands out so sharply. Burns made the cut, but the names ahead of him are where the head-scratching starts.
Wolpin put Rashan Gary of the Dallas Cowboys and Jonathan Greenard of the Philadelphia Eagles above Burns. Gary was traded from Green Bay to Dallas earlier this offseason for a 2027 fourth-round pick, but he has never finished a season with double-digit sacks and has not played a snap for his new team.
Greenard, meanwhile, was dealt from the Vikings to the Eagles this offseason and is coming off a season-ending shoulder injury in Week 15. He finished 2025 with three sacks after back-to-back seasons with double-digit sacks.
Giants linebacker Tremaine Edmunds also landed ahead of Burns at No. 2.
Edmunds deserves credit for his consistency - he has never finished a season with fewer than 102 combined tackles - but Burns brings the bigger impact. Even so, Edmunds being placed above Gary and Greenard makes more sense than the Burns ranking does.
At No. 1, Wolpin went with Eagles linebacker Zack Baun, and that part is easy to understand.
Baun’s 2024 season helped Philadelphia win the Super Bowl and earned him All-Pro and Pro Bowl recognition. He made another Pro Bowl last year, too.
Still, Burns at No. 5 feels like classic offseason amnesia. He was the Giants’ most important player in 2025, and a ranking like this only adds more fuel to the idea that he’ll answer it in 2026.
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