It’s no surprise that the Giants’ first pick of the 2026 NFL Draft, Arvell Reese, has had an impressive start to training camp down in West Virginia and is already in the mix for the Defensive Rookie of the Year award this year.
The 2026 fifth overall selection has already gained the attention of national media who have checked in at Big Blue’s training camp, such as NFL Network’s Brian Baldinger, who said, “You cannot take your eyes off of Arvell Reese…The way he moves, and his size, it's freakish."
With how Reese has looked in the first week of training camp, and how John Harbaugh and Dennard Wilson plan to use him, you have to wonder whether the G-Men are second-guessing one of their biggest free-agent signings of the offseason.
Should the Giants regret signing Tremaine Edmunds during free agency?
One of the Giants' biggest free-agent signings this offseason was veteran linebacker Tremaine Edmunds, who signed a three-year, $36 million deal. Brought in as a replacement for Bobby Okereke, Edmunds will serve as the middle linebacker and defensive anchor in Wilson’s defense.
The 28-year-old can also serve as a mentor for Reese, who is expected to play middle linebacker; however, the reigning Big Ten Linebacker of the Year’s strong training camp raises questions about whether signing Edmunds for $36 million was worth it.
It’s not the first time this question has come up, dating back to when ESPN’s Seth Walder graded each team’s offseason, gave the Giants a B+ grade, and called the Edmunds signing an overpay.
Not that Edmunds is a bad player or that the signing itself was bad for the Giants, but if Reese becomes the player many think he can be, how Harbaugh and Wilson use the two together, along with Micah McFadden, will be interesting to watch in the middle linebacker rotation.
It makes you think that if the G-Men didn’t sign Edmunds, they could’ve gone into this season with Reese and McFadden as the primary starters at middle linebacker and approximately $12 million per season allocated to another position of need, such as cornerback.
Let’s not get it twisted; Big Blue has plenty of depth at the middle linebacker position, so signing a Pro Bowl linebacker in Edmunds wasn’t particularly a bad move; it shores up a positional need and improves New York’s defense.
With Reese still only being 20 years old, Edmunds adds a lot, but it makes you think about the long-term future of the position if and when Reese develops into a star for the Giants.
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