Using the No. 3 overall pick in the recent 2025 NFL Draft, the New York Giants selected Penn State pass rusher Abdul Carter, with part of the strategy being to further strengthen the G-men's already-elite defensive line.
The move places Carter next to fellow pass rush stars Kayvon Thibodeaux, the Giants' first-round pick in 2022, and Brian Burns, who was traded for last offseason. Pluck Dexter Lawrence down in the middle of all of that and New York finally has a real positional strength.
So why do so many observers want to break up the gang before they've even gotten together?
Bleacher Report predicts that New York will trade Thibodeaux in search of improving other areas on the roster.
"A potential Kayvon Thibodeaux trade has made sense ever since the New York Giants drafted Abdul Carter to team up with Brian Burns," writer Brad Gagnon said.
And Sporting News is playing the same game.
"I took to Twitter,'' their author says, "and asked Bears fans if they'd want Chicago to trade for Thibodeaux, and the answer was a convincing yes. As a result, a hypothetical trade involving Chicago sending its 2026 second-round pick to the Giants was proposed, and it makes a great deal of sense.
Bears fans want a premium pass-rusher? Smart. It's fan-friendly. For them.
But ...
New York fans want this to be fan-friendly for New York, see, and they know something here: The Giants won two of their Super Bowls with three menacing pass rushers like this.
In 2008, Michael Strahan, Osi Umenyiora and Justin Tuck got the job done. Then in 2012, Tuck, Umenyiora and Jason Pierre-Paul saw the same success.
The Giants could be - should be! - following this recipe again, so why trade Thibodeaux?
New York needs roster power. Somehow. Somewhere
If the Giants are going to have success on defense this season, the focal point will be this group. New York hopes that if relying on a pressure-cooking D-line worked in the past, it could work now.