The 1 player on the New York Giants who has had their name come up more often than any other has been edge rusher and former 1st-round pick Kayvon Thibodeaux.
Those rumors haven’t been unfounded. The Athletic’s Dan Duggan revealed not only were the Giants receiving offers for Thibodeaux, a former No. 5 overall pick, but exactly what those offers were and why they didn’t bite.
“The Giants took trade calls on Thibodeaux this offseason, but they were never looking to give him away, so they kept him when the best offer was a fourth-round pick,” Duggan wrote. “It seems likely Thibodeaux will be elsewhere next year based on the Giants’ investment in Burns and Carter. But the Steelers showed this offseason a team can pay three edge rushers when they gave third edge rusher Nick Herbig a four-year, $100 million extension. The Steelers are already paying TJ Watt ($41 million per year) and Alex Highsmith ($17 million per year). The Giants have some wiggle room if they want to commit to Thibodeaux, since Carter can’t be extended until after the 2027 season while Burns is signed through 2028.”
It’s not hard to see the Giants hearing from some of those same teams again in training camp or at the NFL trade deadline — probably the former — due to either injuries or they realize 1 of their starting edge rushers is trash.
Kayvon Thibodeaux Coming Off Rough Season
Thibodeaux missed a career-high 7 games with a shoulder injury in 2025 and finished with a career low 2.5 sacks. He now finds himself firmly behind NFL All-Pro Brian Burns and 2025 No. 3 overall pick Abdul Carter on the depth chart.
The Cowboys might have the key to finally unlocking Thibodeaux’s potential with a new defensive coordinator in 34-year-old former Philadelphia Eagles assistant coach Christian Parker.
Thibodeaux, 6-foot-5 and 258 pounds, was the No. 5 overall pick in the 2022 NFL draft out of the University of Oregon — a year in which the Giants had 2 picks in the Top 10 and also took offensive tackle Evan Neal at No. 7 overall.
Through their first 4 seasons, neither Thibodeaux nor Neal has made a Pro Bowl, and both were taken ahead of 4 different 1,000-yard receivers in Drake London, Garrett Wilson, Chris Olave, and Jameson Williams.
Supreme Motivation to Cash Out in Free Agency
At 25 years old, Thibodeaux has exactly 1 chance to land a massive payday by how he plays in 2026. Spotrac already projects his market value in free agency to be something in the range of a 4-year, $74.6 million contract in the 2027 cycle.
If Thibodeaux comes to the Ravens and delivers a double-digit sack season in 2026 and plays on a team that’s a true AFC contender, that number could easily soar past $100 million.
There’s a prime example of a player who did exactly that and who was in Thibodeaux’s same situation in 2025. After the Philadelphia Eagles traded a 3rd round pick for Miami Dolphins edge rusher and former 1st round pick Jaelan Phillips at the NFL trade deadline, Phillips played his way into a 4-year, $120 million free-agent contract with the Carolina Panthers — the most money ever paid to a non-skill position free agent in NFL history.
Trade Offer Revealed for Giants Edge Rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux