One week after losing quarterback Jaxson Dart to a season-ending knee injury, it looks like New York Giants star pass rusher Brian Burns will join him on the sidelines. According to Ian Rapoport, the belief is that the 28-year-old suffered a torn ACL and will miss the rest of the season.
Burns, who suffered an ankle injury in Big Blue’s Week 2 loss to the LA Rams, somewhat surprisingly played against the Tennessee Titans in Week 3. It was ruled a low ankle sprain, and the initial thought was that he’d miss at least a week or two. Instead, Burns was active against Tennessee, and while he didn’t start, the decision felt short-sighted and rushed at the time. Now, it looks even worse.
Burns went down in the fourth quarter of New York’s 12-7 win over Tennessee. His knee appeared to buckle awkwardly, and he stayed down for a bit before eventually walking off with a limp and heading straight to the locker room with trainers. Head coach John Harbaugh said after the game that Burns would undergo an MRI to determine the extent of the injury.
There’s no other way to put it: losing Burns for the season is a major blow to a team that can’t afford to lose any more players, let alone its stars. After losing their top pass rusher one week after losing their starting quarterback, the Giants’ odds of competing in 2026 have essentially dwindled to zero (barring any miracles).
Just as things were looking up.
What Brian Burns’ season-ending injury means for Giants moving forward
Kayvon Thibodeaux needs to step up
Remember all that offseason Kayvon Thibodeaux trade talk? You can officially kiss that goodbye. With Burns expected to miss the rest of the year, for better or worse, Thibs just became one of the most important players on the roster.
Thibodeaux and Abdul Carter combined for zero sacks, zero quarterback hits, and zero hurries against the Titans. Thibs finished with one tackle. For a defense that’s already struggled to get after the quarterback this season, losing the guy who led the NFC with 16.5 sacks last year is about as bad as it gets.
Now, it’s on the former No. 5 and No. 3 overall picks to pick up the slack.
For Thibodeaux specifically, the next 14 games could have a massive impact on his future. He’s playing out his fifth-year option and will now return to a full-time role off the edge. Big Blue won't have the luxury of rotating him as much, either.
If the 25-year-old wants to prove he can be one of the league’s premier pass rushers and eventually get paid like one, it's time to start playing like one.
Giants have to reshuffle their front seven
Burns going down creates a couple more problems beyond replacing his snaps.
Chauncey Golston has given the G-Men some versatility up front, but he’s now also one of their top backup options. Having him spend as much time on the defensive line while also helping replace Burns could be asking too much of a rotational player. It could also sacrifice a lot of depth.
That could give second-year defensive lineman Darius Alexander new life as an interior pass rusher after a quiet start to his second season. The G-Men could also look outside the building, and one familiar name sitting on the Minnesota Vikings’ practice squad is Jihad Ward. The veteran spent two seasons with New York and already knows what it’s like to play for Harbs from their time together in Baltimore and with DC Dennard Wilson in Tennessee last year.
Rookie linebacker Arvell Reese could also move into a more pass-rushing role instead of manning the middle. His versatility and NY's depth at LB could give him more looks as a rusher.
Regardless of how they handle it, New York needs another body. Burns was the one proven difference-maker in a pass rush that wasn’t exactly lighting the world on fire with him.
Brian Burns’ contract situation just became much more complicated
Then there’s the long-term part of this disaster.
Burns has two years remaining on his contract after 2026, with cap hits of roughly $44 million in both 2027 and 2028. Before the injury, an extension after this season felt like an obvious conversation for Big Blue to have. It would’ve given them an opportunity to lower those massive future cap numbers while locking up a player who will still be in his prime for the next couple of years.
A torn ACL might've just changed that conversation entirely.
The Giants now have to wait and see how Burns recovers before making any long-term decisions, especially with so much money already tied to him over the next two years. And depending on when surgery happens and how rehab goes, there’s no guarantee he’ll immediately walk back onto the field as the same player who terrorized quarterbacks in 2025.
That’s a problem for another day. For now, the Giants have 14 games left without their best pass rusher and two former top-five picks who suddenly have a whole lot more on their plates.
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