The 2025 season didn’t go as planned for the New York Giants, who finished a dismal 4-13. Much like the leaves in the fall, it was time for a change.
The team has taken the right steps this offseason to improve its situation, starting with the addition of John Harbaugh as the franchise’s next head coach. The G-Men also acquired several talented players via the NFL Draft and free agency, giving Giants fans hope for next year.
While the upcoming season should have Big Blue Nation fired up, one positive from the G-Men’s disappointing 2025 season that they hope carries over is Brian "Spider-Man" Burns, who received All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors. Still, the disrespect continues for the Giants in a recent article.
Brian Burns disrespected in recent NFC East linebacker rankings
Zach Wolpin of Last Word On Sports recently ranked the top five NFC East linebackers ahead of the season. Burns did crack the list, but he comes in at No. 5, and who's ahead of him will make you question everything you thought you knew.
Wolpin ranked Rashan Gary of the Dallas Cowboys and Jonathan Greenard of the Philadelphia Eagles ahead of Burns. That's hard to justify when Spider-Man had 16.5 sacks, 22 tackles for loss, and 31 quarterback hits last season -- all career highs.
Gary was traded from Green Bay to Dallas earlier this offseason in exchange for a 2027 fourth-round pick. Although expectations are high, he has yet to finish a season with double-digit sacks, and he hasn't even played a snap for his new team.
As for Greenard, the 29-year-old was traded from the Vikings to the Eagles this offseason. The seven-year veteran is coming off a season-ending shoulder injury suffered in Week 15. Not to mention, he finished 2025 with just three sacks after back-to-back seasons with double-digit sacks.
It’s also worth mentioning that Giants linebacker Tremaine Edmunds was listed at No. 2 on Wolpin’s list, and while I love this addition for Big Blue, I can’t wrap my head around him being listed higher than Burns, too.
Edmunds is consistent in the sense that he’s never finished with fewer than 102 combined tackles in his career. However, when you look at who has the bigger impact, it's Burns all the way. That said, it feels right that Edmunds was slotted higher than Gary and Greenard.
Eagles linebacker Zack Baun came in at No. 1, which, as much as it pains me to say, I can agree that he should be listed towards the top. His 2024 performance helped the Eagles win the Super Bowl and earned him All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors. He followed that up with another Pro Bowl appearance last year.
Burns was the best player on the Giants last year. Ranking him at No. 5 behind Gary, Greenard, and Edmunds is pretty crazy. It's stuff like this that leads me to believe Burns will silence everyone once again in 2026.
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