NY Giants OLB Abdul Carter Makes an Interesting Personal Promise

Abdl Carter wants his first NFL sack soon. And he won't stop with just one.

New York Giants linebacker Abdul Carter | John Jones-Imagn Images

New York Giants rookie outside linebacker Abdul Carter has always taken pride in his personal and professional brand. But the Giants' rookie, who thus far has been one of the highlights of the Giants' training camp and preseason, is ready to make an exception to his usual well-kept grooming and for a very good and personal reason.

“Excuse me if you see me & I’m looking a lil rough,” Carter said in a post appearing on his  X account. “Not getting [a] haircut til I get a sack.”

Carter probably won’t have to wait too long for that to happen. In his NFL preseason debut last week against the Buffalo Bills, Carter only received six defensive snaps before being pulled, but in those snaps, three of which were on the pass rush, the third overall pick in this year’s draft registered three quarterback pressures.

If Carter’s three-year career at Penn State is any indication of what’s ahead for him at the NFL level, he probably won’t have to worry about going too long in between haircuts.

In 470 career pass rush snaps, Carter finished with 24 sacks, or one sack every 19.58 pass rush attempts. He was also the highest-graded pass-rushing outside linebacker of the 2025 draft class, per Pro Football Focus, finishing with a 92.4 grade and a 23.1% pass-rush win rate.

Carter, who came to the podium after the Giants wrapped up their second day of joint practices with the Jets wearing a hood to cover his growing locks, has come every bit as advertised since joining the Giants. Still, the rookie is also smart enough to know that he hasn’t done anything yet.

“I’m learning a lot,” he said. “Every day, every practice, they’re out here teaching me new things, trying to help me out. I’m just learning everything.”

He’s also becoming more comfortable in what the Giants are asking him to do and working off what his teammates are doing..

“I know my teammates more and am just building that chemistry. I feel like that’s the most important thing,” he said. 

Carter also admitted to being an open book when it comes to learning from teammates like Brian Burns and Dexter Lawrence II.

“(Lawrence) sits right behind me in the meeting room, so I’m always talking with him, trying to get better,” Carter said. “He helps me a lot.”

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