The New York Giants will have one — and only one — Pro Bowl representative this season.
Brian Burns, who was acquired from the Panthers in the 2024 offseason to be the face of the Giants’ defense, earned a Pro Bowl selection, validating both his individual dominance and the team’s previous investment.
Meanwhile, Andrew Thomas, viewed as one of the NFL’s top left tackles, was left off the Pro Bowl roster once again, extending a baffling streak that has followed him throughout his career.
Dexter Lawrence’s three-year streak of making Pro Bowls has also been snapped following a poor 2025 season that saw him regress as a pass rusher and run defender in the middle of the defense.
Burns’ Pro Bowl honors highlight elite production in a lost season. Thomas’ omission highlights everything broken about Pro Bowl voting.
Brian Burns Rewarded for Carrying Giants’ Defense
In a season where little went right for the Giants, Brian Burns was the exception. The star edge rusher consistently produced pressure, sacks, and disruption despite limited help around him, becoming the defense’s most reliable — and most feared — presence.
Burns is in the midst of his career-best season with 15 sacks, 20 tackles for loss, and three forced fumbles. He has also generated 22 quarterback hurries and 12 QB hits. Burns is second in the NFL in sacks, behind Myles Garrett’s near NFL-record 22.0 sacks with two games left this season.
That production translated into Pro Bowl recognition, his first with the Giants after two in Carolina, and another reminder that elite talent can still stand out even when the win column doesn’t cooperate.
For a franchise desperate for cornerstone players, Burns’ selection matters. It validates the front office’s belief that he could be a difference-maker regardless of circumstance — and it reinforces his status as one of the few Giants currently performing at a league-wide standard.
Andrew Thomas is Still Waiting for His First Pro Bowl
Year after year, Thomas has anchored the Giants’ offensive line, neutralizing top pass rushers and providing stability at the all-important left tackle position. Yet, five seasons into his career, the former top-five pick still has not made a Pro Bowl.
Thomas has already achieved something more meaningful — All-Pro recognition — an honor voted on by analysts and coaches that reflects true on-field performance. But the Pro Bowl, driven heavily by fan voting and name recognition, continues to pass him by.
The reasons are familiar, yet frustrating. The Giants’ struggles limit national exposure, offensive linemen don’t generate highlights, and Pro Bowl voting favors team success and popularity over consistency.
Participants are determined by the consensus votes of fans, players, and coaches, with each group’s votes representing one-third of the total votes that determine the Pro Bowl representatives in Orlando.
None of that changes the reality: Andrew Thomas is playing Pro Bowl-caliber football, even if the Pro Bowl refuses to acknowledge it. He has only allowed one sack all season long, and just two quarterback hits and 10 quarterback pressures, among the fewest in the NFL for each category.
Thomas was also graded as the eighth-best run-blocking offensive tackle in the NFL on PFF. He was also the third-highest graded pass-blocking offensive tackle and third-highest graded OT overall. The only argument against him was that he did not play a full season due to a Lisfranc fracture that held him out of the first two games of this season.
Even still, he played admirably upon entering the lineup before suffering a hamstring injury against the Vikings on Sunday. According to recent reports, Thomas may be forced to sit out the Giants’ final two games, cutting another spectacular season short of the finish line.
A Familiar Giants and NFL Pattern
Burns’ selection and Thomas’ snub paint a clear picture of the current Giants and NFL reality.
Defensive stars who rack up visible stats get recognized. Offensive linemen who quietly do elite work — especially on losing teams — get overlooked. It’s a pattern Giants fans know all too well.
Burns deserves his moment. He was one of the few reasons opponents still had to game-plan for New York and is among the top defensive players in all of football this season.
But Thomas’ continued exclusion feels less like a coincidence and more like confirmation that the Pro Bowl is a popularity contest, not a performance review.
Until that changes, Andrew Thomas may continue to stack respect where it actually matters — on film — while waiting for an honor that continues to lag far behind his play.
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