John Harbaugh’s Giants are happy to abide by the old adage, “the more, the merrier,” on the edge for 2026.
Moments after Big Blue made a surprising pivot and drafted pass rusher Arvell Reese with the No. 5 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, Harbaugh told reporters that the team has no plans to trade edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux, the No. 5 pick in 2022.
“We keep all the good players as much as we can, right?” Harbaugh said as he turned to GM Joe Schoen.
“Yup,” Schoen replied.
“We love Kayvon,” Harbaugh added.
The Giants brass tried to end any conjecture that Thibodeaux would be the odd man out of a pass rush that also includes last year’s No. 3 overall pick, Abdul Carter, and Brian Burns.
There had been speculation about Thibodeaux’s future for months, but it was at the front of mind after the Giants shipped Dexter Lawrence to the Bengals last week for the No. 10 overall pick, which ended up being offensive tackle Francis Mauigoa out of Miami.
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Harbaugh previously said he’s excited to use Thibodeaux, who counts for $14.75 million against the 2026 salary cap and is entering his walk year on a fifth-year option, but the incoming head coach did declare that “everyone is tradable” earlier in the offseason.
Carter, who finished his rookie campaign with 25 tackles and four sacks, didn’t seem too concerned about there being too many cooks in the kitchen at MetLife Stadium.
“We bouta be crazyyyy🥱🔥🔥,” he posted to X.
Perhaps Harbaugh and the Giants are planning to dial back the clock to 2007 and draw inspiration from Steve Spagnuolo’s infamous “NASCAR” defense that won a Super Bowl by leaning on a defensive line that featured Michael Strahan, Osi Umenyiora, Justin Tuck and Mathias Kiwanuka.
