Barring a last-second disaster, veteran left tackle Andrew Thomas will be lining up with the New York Giants’ starting offense on Sunday night.
In theory, that shouldn’t be a big deal. The 27-year-old Thomas is under contract through 2029 and, when healthy, has remained an effective blindside protector throughout the Giants’ latest rebuild.
The problem, as Giants fans know by now, is that Thomas is often in street clothes on the sidelines. He’s never played a complete season since the NFL moved to 17 games in 2021, and he missed 22 of 51 games over the last three years.
Thomas has understandably developed a reputation as an injury-prone lineman, though this year provides an opportunity for the seven-year veteran to completely rewrite the narrative.
Can Andrew Thomas finally prove to New York Giants fans that he can stay healthy?
Not only is Thomas healthy, but there were no reports of him being limited during offseason workouts or training camp. All five of the Giants’ starting offensive linemen are expected to play against the Cowboys on Sunday night, and center John Michael Schmitz has had no setbacks while recovering from a recent concussion.
Thomas’ injuries often make it easy to forget he’s still around and among the Giants’ highest-paid players. Only Brian Burns ($28.2 million) has a higher average salary than Thomas’ $23.5 million, and they’re joined only by cornerback Paulson Adebo ($18 million) as players averaging at least $16 million.
Winning often breeds forgiveness and the ability to ignore injuries or controversies. There’s a reason why Giants fans tend to discuss Plaxico Burress’ go-ahead touchdown in Super Bowl XLII rather than his self-inflicted gunshot wound. Depending on who you ask, Lawrence Tynes might be the most important kicker in Giants history despite only making 83.6% of his field goals; for what it’s worth, the NFL average in 2025 was 85.6 percent.
Darius Slayton’s release makes Thomas the Giants’ longest-tenured player and the final player from the Dave Gettleman era. Unfortunately for the 2020 first-round pick, he’s only experienced one winning season in that time, and the odds don’t favor this year’s club contending for an NFC East crown.
But if Thomas can stay healthy and perform at a high level, then it’ll go a long way in changing how he’ll be viewed moving forward. The priority must be keeping Jaxson Dart as far away from the blue medical tent as possible, which in turn makes Thomas one of the team’s most pivotal players.
The Giants have not had an offensive lineman earn Pro Bowl honors since Chris Snee in 2012. We’ll see whether Thomas, a 2022 second-team All-Pro selection, can break the surprising drought.
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