Now that John Harbaugh has settled in as the Giants’ de facto general manager, fully pushing aside Joe Schoen, he has some decisions to make.
One of those: Will Harbaugh trade edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux?
It’s certainly possible.
Schoen drafted Thibodeaux fifth overall in 2022. But then, leading into 2024, Schoen traded for (and gave a huge contract to) Brian Burns. And in last year’s draft, Schoen picked Abdul Carter third overall.
Burns and Carter were both much more productive than Thibodeaux in 2025. Plus, Thibodeaux is entering the final year of his rookie contract, with a fifth-year option salary worth $14.75 million.
It doesn’t make a lot of sense for Harbaugh to extend Thibodeaux. So instead of letting him walk in free agency in 2027 — and maybe (but not definitely) getting a 2028 compensatory pick tied to his departure — Harbaugh could try to acquire immediate draft assets for him.
ESPN.com recently proposed a fascinating deal that would send Thibodeaux to Baltimore (Harbaugh’s previous longtime employer) for a fourth-round pick in this year’s draft.
Harbaugh currently has one pick each in Rounds 1, 2 and 4. He doesn’t have a third rounder because of last year’s Jaxson Draft trade-up move.
So this would give Harbaugh an extra immediate borderline premium pick, since Baltimore’s fourth rounder is No. 115.
Here’s ESPN.com with more on this Thibodeaux-to-Ravens proposal:
It’s difficult to see Thibodeaux having much of a future in New York. The Giants signed Brian Burns to a long-term contract and just used the third pick on Abdul Carter, who posted massive pressure rates in his debut season. Thibodeaux will be an unrestricted free agent after the 2026 season. He’s coming off a 2.5-sack, 10-knockdown year, and was limited to 10 games because of a shoulder injury.
The Giants can afford Thibodeaux’s $14.8 million salary in 2026, but it’s probably not the ideal use of their cash. They could keep Thibodeaux and hope to land a compensatory pick in 2027, but they are likely to be active in free agency, which would make it more likely that Thibodeaux wouldn’t earn them a draft pick after leaving. Landing a guaranteed pick now and freeing up money to help address the offensive line and secondary might be a reasonable alternative for Giants GM Joe Schoen.
The Ravens, on the other hand, are thin on the edge. Mike Green had 3.5 sacks as a rookie, albeit with 14 knockdowns. No Ravens player had more than five sacks last season. Veterans Kyle Van Noy and Dre’Mont Jones are free agents. And former first-round pick Odafe Oweh, whom the Ravens traded at midseason, had 7.5 sacks on just 347 snaps after joining the Chargers.
Jesse Minter, who turned around Oweh, is now the head coach in Baltimore. And Minter might fancy his chances of getting more out of Thibodeaux, who came into the league with a top-five-pick toolbox and racked up 11.5 sacks in his second year with the Giants. The Ravens would be taking a targeted swing on a talented player in a contract year who just turned 25 in December. And though re-signing Tyler Linderbaum would leave the Ravens in a tight cap situation, either restructuring or redoing Lamar Jackson’s contract will free up a massive amount of space.