The New York Giants had little to cheer about throughout 2025, but the edge positiohn provided a spark to the dank swamp that was the Giants’ season. Veteran pass rusher Brian Burns finished second in the NFL
with 16.5 sacks, only behind the Browns’ Myles Garrett, who broke Michael Strahan’s single-season sack record with 23. Rookie, third-overall-pick, Abdul Carter finished the season strong, after showing resiliency and overcoming his own immaturity issues.
New York finished with 39 sacks in 2025, which ranked 17th in the NFL. They had 45 in 2024 (9th in NFL) and 34 in 2023 (29th in NFL). Overall, the edge room was the Giants’ strength, but they were not perfect either. Let’s review the 2025 season.
2025 review
Brian Burns, Abdul Carter, Kayvon Thibodeaux, Chauncey Golston, Tomon Fox, Victor Dimukeje
The Giants had three quality edge defenders in 2025: Brian Burns, Abdul Carter, and Kayvon Thibodeaux; those three accounted for 2,201 of the total 2,465 defensive snaps. Burns led the team with 863 snaps, and Carter had 844. Kayvon Thibodeaux sustained a shoulder injury in Week 10 against the Chicago Bears and eventually landed on the Injured Reserve; he played 494 snaps and finished with 32 pressures.
Thibodeaux’s presence and development were felt early in the season. He only had 2.5 sacks, but had a tackle for a loss in five of his first six games. Thibodeaux added 19 STOPs at the line of scrimmage, and he was robbed of a strip of Jalen Hurts on the infamous Tush Push play. His improvement as an overall football player was evident throughout the season, but it wasn’t consistent.
Finishing plays was still an issue for Thibodeaux, as he missed nine tackles in 2025 (29%). Now, to be fair, some of these missed tackles are high-effort plays from the backside that alter the running back’s path, but the point remains — need more well-rounded consistency from the 25-year-old EDGE rusher.
Thibodeaux missed time in 2024 as well. He finished with 324 pass-rushing snaps in 2025 and just 358 in 2024, finishing with 32 and 38 pressures, respectively. Thibodeaux has improved as a player, and he’s a good football player, but he hasn’t displayed the top-five pedigree that many Giants’ fans thought they were receiving when Joe Schoen selected him as such in 2022. Still, he’s an asset and one the Giants must make a decision about now that he enters next season on his fifth-year option.
Brian Burns is the heart and soul of the Giants’ roster. No player sets an example for others to emulate like Burns. He is a constant hustler who plays through nagging injuries, while being a necessary vocal leader that this defense desperately needs.
Burns had a career year with 16.5 sacks to go along with his 53 pressures; he now has 114 pressures in two seasons with the Giants. Burns was also an asset as a run defender, accounting for 42 STOPs, which is tied for a career high for Burns (2024). Burns is everything a coach would want in a leader on the football team, and he sets an excellent example for Abdul Carter.
Carter’s talent is undeniable:
Few players in the NFL were as successful as ACarter at winning in a phone booth. Carter’s quickness and fluidity are rare even at the NFL level, which is why he led the league with 44 quick pressures. Offensive linemen who failed to time their punch or failed to make clean contact on Carter struggled to account for his speed and elusiveness as a pass-rusher.
Doubts surrounding Carter grew louder when Mike Kafka held him accountable TWICE for missing team meetings. It seemed apparent that Brian Daboll was soft with Carter, and Kafka made an example of him against Green Bay by benching him for a series. Two weeks later, Kafka benched Carter for the entire quarter of a prime-time game against New England.
To Carter’s credit, he took the message to heart and finished the season strong, recording 22 pressures over the final four games, with interim defensive coordinator Charlie Bullen praising his approach to practice. Carter appeared to need a kick in the rear — a reality check — to push him toward his potential. The hope now is that the lesson sparked lasting maturity and sustained motivation, rather than a brief moment of realization, spawned by internet trolling and the overall embarrassment of being held accountable.
Even with Carter’s issues, he still showed enough for me to be excited about his development. He must get better against the run. The strength is necessary for him to unlock a well-rounded approach to the game. He was also frequently out of position early in the season, but that seemed to be rectified down the stretch of the year. It was not a perfect rookie season, but his talents are undeniable — let’s see how he approaches the off-season.
Golston only played 173 snaps due to foot and neck injuries that he dealt with at different parts of the season. The high point of Golston’s season was against Minnesota, where he had five STOPs at the line of scrimmage and was an asset against the run. We have not seen the best of Golston; he finished with five pressures and a sack. Dimukeje and Fox hardly saw the field; the former had one pressure and the latter two.
Grade: A –
2026 outlook
The Giants remain strong at EDGE going into next season, although questions about Kayvon Thibodeaux’s future with the team will likely be entertained throughout the off-season. Thibodeaux is entering his fifth-year option season and is a possible trade or extension candidate. Trading Thibodeaux would free up $14.8 million on the cap with no dead cap incurred.
Personally, I would love to extend Thibodeaux, and the Giants may get him at a slight discount, since he’s finished the last two seasons on the I.R. However, Thibodeaux may want to wait and see his options after next season, which puts the Giants in a position to explore the market, depending on their long-term interest in the 25-year-old.
With no off-season trades, a trio of Burns, Carter, and Thibodeaux is a lethal edge room for any defensive coordinator. Bullen was able to generate success and deceptive looks from the front with Burns and Carter at the end of the season, and Shane Bowen even helped Burns achieve a career-type of year. The defensive structure will be important, but the ingredients (the personnel) are an excellent baseline — let’s hope they find someone who can cook.
I will say, though, the Giants could still use another edge defender, whether it’s a veteran signing or a day three pick. More depth at the position now that Dimukeje — who missed most of the season with injuries — and Fox are not under contract. Like many positions on the roster, the depth could be replenished, but the top-end of the edge room remains the most impressive on the roster.
