One of the biggest moves the New York Giants made all day was agreeing to terms with star linebacker Tremaine Edmunds to a three-year, $36 million deal with $23.7 million fully guaranteed. It was John Harbaugh's first big swing of the day that didn't involve signing a Raven or keeping anyone.
The Edmunds deal has been polarizing among some, but I don't see anything but positives about this deal. The Giants signed Bobby Okereke to a four-year $40 million contract during the 2023 offseason, and I see the 27-year-old as a major upgrade, especially considering that he's younger.
For context, Okereke was just released even though Edmunds is set to make $2.5 million more per year than him. He signed for more money than his successor even though the NFL salary cap has increased considerably across the three offseasons since Joe Schoen originally signed Okereke.
The Giants made the right decision cutting Bobby Okereke for Tremaine Edmunds
On this new contract, Edmunds just became the eighth-highest-paid off-ball linebacker in the NFL. A lot of the names ahead of him make sense, but the seventh-highest paid per year is Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah who hasn't played since Week 8 of 2024 due to a potentially career-altering neck injury.
Owusu-Koramoah missed all of 2025 after being placed on PUP, and there have been reports that this could've been a career-ending issue. This is not a knock on the guy, since he was a dog when he played, especially since the deal has void years, but this makes the Edmunds deal look like a steal.
Besides, he's not making much more than reigning tackles leader Zaire Franklin, or Devin Bush, who is set to be his replacement in Chicago. Furthermore, signing with the Giants has reunited the 2018 first-round draft pick with Joe Schoen, who was in the war room when he was drafted by Buffalo.
The other thing that stands out about signing the Virginia Tech product is that it's a cautionary tale about the Okereke deal. Just like when Schoen chased better value by signing Jevon Holland a year after opting not to extend Xavier McKinney, the Giants came out of this with the better market value.
It's a steep deal given the state of the LB market, but he also signed before the biggest dominos have yet to fall. Okereke will land decent money on a new deal, but Devin Lloyd, Kaden Elliss are all in line to make more money than Edmunds once they sign contracts, and Nakobe Dean matched his FA value.
And for that reason, this quietly looks like one of Schoen's better free agent values, especially since the two-time Pro Bowler has surpassed 100 tackles in every season of his career and is more athletic than his predecessor, so for all of the losses the Giants endured today, this is a major win.