While the Baltimore Ravens have a top NFL defense, there’s one position group that’s not quite as elite as all of the others.
It’s not a great template to say that a team isn’t great at rushing the passer because they only sacked Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen once in a season opening loss, but improving at edge rusher might be in the cards — Allen only saw 3 pressures all night.
Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox thought up a trade that would bring the Ravens a possible game changer in New York Giants edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux in exchange for a 2026 second round pick — a pretty steep price but one that might be worth it for such a major upgrade.
“Kayvon Thibodeaux is the top pass-rusher who might, theoretically, be available in the coming weeks,” Knox wrote on September 9. “A lot will depend on how hot the seat gets for Giants head coach Brian Daboll … The Giants could also look to cash-in the 24-year-old if the season looks lost and/or if they decide to move on from Daboll — and their disastrous Week 1 offensive performance didn’t provide a promising start. There should be no shortage of teams looking for a pass-rusher with Thibodeaux’s upside.”
Series Of Head Scratching Moves For Giants
The fact a player like Thibodeaux has become expendable for the Giants speaks to how poorly run the franchise has been in recent years.
The timeline goes like this:
- The Giants draft Thibodeaux out of Oregon with the No. 5 overall pick in the 2022 NFL draft.
- Thibodeaux has 11.5 sacks in 2023 and the Giants respond by trading for Carolina Panthers edge rusher Brian Burns after the season and signing him to a 5-year, $114 million contract extension.
- The Giants exercise the fifth year option on Thibodeaux’s contract, which will pay him approximately $14.751 million in 2026.
- The Giants draft Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter at No. 3 overall in the 2025 NFL draft. Now they have 3 elite edge rushers. Which is one too many.
It’s a simple case study on how bad teams stay bad. The Giants literally had one strength in terms of position group depth headed into 2025 — on the defensive front. They could have added a dynamic tight end like Colston Loveland or Tyler Warren or even another wide receiver like Tetairoa McMillan to go with Malik Nabers and take the top off the offense.
Instead, they took Carter.
Thibodeaux Could Still Have All-Pro Upside
While Thibodeaux took a step back in 2024 with 5.5 sacks, part of that can be attributed to the fact he missed 5 games in the middle of the season after undergoing wrist surgery.
The curious thing about Thibodeaux would be seeing how he might do on an elite defense and playing for an actual contender — or just for a competently run franchise. The Giants, mostly because of the inept leadership of Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen, have been one of the NFL’s worst teams over his first 3 seasons.
The Giants have gotten worse each of Thibodeaux’s first 3 seasons. They went 9-7-1 and lost in the NFC Divisional round his rookie year and have gone 9-25 over the last 2 seasons — all under Daboll.
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