The New York Giants have been busy on the first day of free agency, already addressing the tight end room with Isaiah Likely and upgrading special teams by bringing in punter Jordan Stout. But with plenty of holes still scattered across the roster, there were always going to be more moves coming.
One of those needs just got checked off. According to NFL insider Ian Rapoport, the Giants have agreed to terms with former Chicago Bears linebacker Tremaine Edmunds on a three-year, $36 million deal.
The 27-year-old has been loosely tied to Big Blue for a while now, and once Chicago released him a few days ago, the path to bringing him in suddenly got a lot easier. Instead of having to burn draft capital in a trade, Joe Schoen and the Giants were able to wait things out and scoop up the rangy tackling machine on the open market.
Giants sign Tremaine Edmunds to bolster linebacker room
For those who have been living under a rock, head coach John Harbaugh has a bit of an affinity for talented green-dot linebackers who can quarterback his defense. Players like Ray Lewis, C.J. Mosley, Patrick Queen, and Roquan Smith all thrived in that role under him, and it wouldn’t be surprising if Tremaine Edmunds ends up being the next name on that list.
The former Virginia Tech standout has all the tools to do exactly that. Edmunds is long, athletic, and has a knack for blowing up the run game, all while bringing the kind of sideline-to-sideline range that modern defenses need in the middle. At 6-foot-5 and 249 pounds, he also looks the part of the centerpiece of a defense.
The Giants needed someone to step in and take control after releasing Bobby Okereke earlier this offseason, and they may have just grabbed the best option available. When you combine this move with the additions of Isaiah Likely and Jordan Stout earlier in the day, it’s starting to look like Harbaugh is putting his fingerprints all over this roster pretty quickly.