The trade speculation around New York Giants edge defender Kayvon Thibodeaux just won’t stop.
Entering his fifth NFL season, the No. 5 overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft has been the subject of trade chatter since the Giants made edge defender Abdul Carter the No. 3 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. That continued on Wednesday when ESPN listed four possible trades for four players — Thibodeaux, Buffalo Bills wide receiver Keon Coleman, Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson, and Chicago
Bears tight end Cole Kmet.
The ones we care about, of course, are the ones involving Thibodeaux. Here are the four Thibodeaux trade proposals from ESPN analysts:
New Orleans Saints
(via Jeremy Fowler)
Giants get: 2027 third-round pick
Saints get: Thibodeaux
New England Patriots
(via Dan Graziano)
Giants get: 2027 fifth-round pick
Patriots get: Thibodeaux
Kansas City Chiefs
(via Ben Solak)
Giants get: 2027 fourth-round pick
Chiefs get: Thibodeaux
Los Angeles Rams
(via Seth Walder)
Giants get: 2028 fourth-round pick
Rams get: Thibodeaux
ESPN Giants beat writer Jordan Ranaan, in the role of decision-maker, refuses to take any of these deals. He says:
Fowler’s offer from the Saints is clearly the best, and it would definitely be contemplated. But in the end, does it make the Giants better this season? No, it makes them worse.
Harbaugh is not interested in a rebuild. He wants to compete for a playoff spot this season. So given that the Giants were originally looking for better than a third-round pick for Thibodeaux, they pass on a third-round pick next year. The Giants could always reconsider their stance on Thibodeaux at the trade deadline depending on the state of the team. But if he has a strong season, they could franchise-tag and trade him next year.
None of these offers are what the Giants are looking for at the moment. It would have to be a deal that absolutely blows them away.
Valentine’s View
I agree with Ranaan.Trading Thibodeaux for third- to fifth-round draft capital makes the Giants worse in 2026, and that is something Harbaugh would be unlikely to find appealing. Thibodeaux is clearly the Giants’ third edge defender, but the only way you trade him now is if you can get a player of roughly equal value that you believe fills an immediate need. I am not sure such a trade exists.
I have been told by a source that the only way the Giants would have considered trading Thibodeaux prior to the draft was if they were offered a second-round pick in return. That did not happen. The second-round pick price tag makes sense because if the Giants play the long game and allow Thibodeaux to go to free agency, they could receive a 2028 third-round compensatory selection while getting another year of production from the player.
Ranaan raises an interesting tag-and-trade scenario next offseason. That makes sense because it would bring the Giants 2027 draft capital rather than, at best, a late-third round 2028 compensatory pick.
The other possibility is waiting until the 2026 NFL Trade Deadline and reassessing where the Giants are as a team, whether Thibodeaux has legitimate interest in remaining with them beyond next season, and what the return might look like for him at that time.
