Kayvon Thibodeaux has spent the last few years bouncing through just about every label a pass rusher can wear. Top-five pick.
Young building block. Inconsistent producer.
Injury concern. Trade candidate.
And now, after Sunday’s 12-7 win over the Tennessee Titans, he may be the New York Giants’ most important remaining answer on defense.
That’s because the Giants believe they lost Brian Burns to a torn ACL in Week 3, a blow that would end his season and strip away the player they were counting on to anchor the pass rush. The injury comes only a week after New York also lost its starting quarterback for the year with a season-ending knee injury. The early part of 2026 has already gone sideways, even if the Giants are still sitting at 2-1.
For the moment, the Burns injury changes everything about Thibodeaux’s future in New York. The idea of moving him before the deadline suddenly looks a lot less realistic. If anything, the Giants now need him more than ever.
The pass rush was supposed to be a strength. Through three games, it has been anything but.
Even with Burns on the field for most of that stretch, New York has produced just one sack, and only the Miami Dolphins have fewer with zero. Abdul Carter owns that lone sack, which leaves both he and Thibodeaux with a lot more to give.
That’s a sharp turn for a player whose name has already circulated in trade conversations. Earlier in the offseason, general manager Joe Schoen made it clear what it would take to deal Thibodeaux, setting the price at a second-round pick.
For a player who has not played a full season since 2023 and has 23.5 sacks in four-plus seasons, that was already a steep ask. Strip away his 11.5-sack 2023 season, and the production looks much thinner: 12 sacks in 39 games, plus just 2.5 last year and none so far this season.
Still, the Giants are not in a position to bail on him now. If Schoen couldn’t land a second-rounder when Thibodeaux’s value was higher, moving him now would amount to selling low at the exact moment New York needs him most.
Thibodeaux is also in the final year of his rookie contract, which puts him in line for a payday this offseason, whether it comes from the Giants or somewhere else. Burns’ injury gives him 14 games to show exactly what kind of player he is and whether he can earn another deal.
The only real path to a trade is if the season falls apart completely before the Nov. 10 deadline. The Giants have five games between now and then to figure out whether that happens.
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