Lots of changes may unfold for the New York Giants this offseason after another disappointing season.
New York went just 4-13 during the 2025 season, and with John Harbaugh's coaching staff set to take over, this Giants team may look a bit different when the 2026 season arrives. Perhaps one of those changes may come on the defensive side of the ball, which vastly underachieved this past season, despite the elite players it contains.
While Brian Burns and Abdul Carter are expected to remain for the long haul, is former first-round edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux a potential trade chip for Big Blue?
Giants predicted to part ways with Kayvon Thibodeaux
In an article for SNY, Lucas Hutcherson made five bold predictions for the Giants' 2026 offseason. One of them should not be a total surprise, as he had the team trading Thibodeaux, who is coming off a second straight disappointing and injury-plagued year.
"At the end of the season, Thibodeaux said he was looking forward to next season, but the Giants may have other plans with Thibodeaux set to earn a guaranteed salary of almost $15 million coming off a disappointing season," Hutcherson wrote.
"The fact that Abdul Carter had just half a sack in the 10 games Thibodeaux started but 3.5 in the seven games he missed could lead the Giants to think Carter will develop faster if he’s not forced to split reps."
"That guaranteed salary won’t make Thibodeaux easy to move, and likely won’t mean the Giants get much of a return unless they eat some of it via payment of a pre-trade bonus," he continued. "However, there was reportedly interest at the deadline, so look for the Giants to at least try to shop him."
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Thibodeaux, who was one of the Giants' first-round draft selections when they selected him fifth overall in the 2022 NFL Draft, hasn't quite been the elite pass rusher many thought he would be. The 25-year-old has had only one season with 10 or more sacks, in 2023, when he recorded 11.5.
As already alluded to, Thibodeaux has seen limited playing time over the last two seasons, mainly due to injury.
He played in just 12 games during the 2024 season after suffering a wrist injury in a Week 5 matchup against the Seattle Seahawks, necessitating surgery. Thibodeaux was then limited to just 10 games this past season due to a shoulder injury, which placed him on injured reserve in late December. Those injuries resulted in the edge rusher recording just eight sacks in those two seasons combined.
After there was reported trade interest in Kayvon Thibodeaux during the deadline this past season, it would not be a surprise at all if the Giants opt to move on from their former first-round selection, who hasn't panned out well in New York.