Draft or Free Agency? How Should Giants Address Linebacker?

During the 2025 season, the New York Giants' defense was a hot subject of their losing campaign, and mostly for the wrong reasons.

The touted defensive front, led by four talented edge rushers who were supposed to wreak havoc on opposing backfields, struggled to get multiple weapons involved and pose a consistent threat until the late stretch of the season, after changes were made at the top.

Then there was the deep secondary, whose combination of injuries and inexperience continued to be a major problem, as the unit was often a dartboard for the league's elite receivers and suffered brutal collapses in several close games that could have gone the franchise's way.

One area that wasn't discussed enough at that time was the second-level inside linebackers, a position group that was also marred by key losses and a very thin collection of proven depth that couldn't help the team slow down the run game.

It started as early as Week 1, when the Giants' defense suffered its first major injury blow with Micah McFadden, whose season was cut short in the opener by a bad foot injury on the heels of his career-high 2024 campaign in which he led the team with 107 tackles, three sacks, and two forced turnovers.

The unit was lucky to have fellow veteran Bobby Okereke back and available to command the middle of the defense for the entire slate, but alongside him was a hole that several late-season additions were unable to properly fill in McFadden's place.

Even those two starters have big question marks hanging over their heads heading into the offseason. McFadden is set to be a free agent on March 11, and some are wondering if he still has a place in the Giants' defense and can perform at the same level post-injury.

Okereke has always been a tackling machine in his lengthy career, but the 2025 season was one of his weaker campaigns, with just 1 sack on 10 pressures and a career-high 13.0% missed-tackle rate against the run.

While he has one more year left on his deal, there is some speculation that the Giants could consider moving on from him to garner some extra cap savings towards this year's spending. If that's the case, the Giants would be digging themselves a larger hole in the middle of their defense.

Like the secondary, which we touched on in a previous article, the linebacker position is a highly underrated need for Joe Schoen to address.

Depending on what happens in the coming days, it'll be interesting to see how the team addresses the group to avoid another year of the Giants getting pounded up the middle of the defense by their opponents.

Potential Draft Option

Texas Tech linebacker James Rodriguez — Texas Tech's Jacob Rodriguez gets up after making a tackle against BYU during the Big 12 Conference championship football game, Saturday, Nov. 6, 2025, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. | Nathan Giese/Avalanche-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

This year's draft class poses a few top prospects at the linebacker position who will likely get poached in the top half of the first round, but it's hard to see the Giants spending their No. 5 pick on one of those players when they have other needs that are graded higher on their scale.

Any attempt to add to the position will likely come on Day 2 or 3, when the class is deep enough for an NFL team to find some hidden gems that late in the event. One prospect to watch out for in New York's defense is Texas Tech linebacker Jacob Rodriguez.

Rodriguez, 23, is entering the draft at an older age than most of his fellow prospects, but he also brings some of the best experience from having an extra year of collegiate ball under his belt.

After transferring to the Red Raiders program from Virginia, he quietly ascended into one of their biggest producers in the middle of the defense, notching consecutive 100+ tackles with six sacks, six interceptions, 13 forced turnovers, and 12 pass deflections.

Last season, Rodriguez led the school with a career-high 128 tackles and 11 of his 19 total turnovers. More importantly, he has molded into a better run defender with his season, posting 43 stops, which tied for seventh-most among linebackers, and an average depth of run tackle of 2.8 yards.

The Giants desperately need defenders who can wrap up the ball carrier at the initial point of contact and not give up additional yards, helping the defense get off the field faster and allowing the offense more time to get on the scoreboard.

Adding a young piece like Rodriguez could be an excellent move for the Giants, where he could potentially turn into their next Micah McFadden if he stays healthy and further develops his keen sense for hunting down the football and creating turnovers.

Potential Pending Free Agent Option

Cleveland Browns inside linebacker Devin Bush — Dec 28, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Browns linebacker Devin Bush (30) reacts after Pittsburgh Steelers miss a field goal in the third quarter at Huntington Bank Field. | Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

The Giants have begun to prioritize adding some veteran experience across their defense. They also want someone who could offer long-term stability and isn't one of the older free agents whose careers are heading off into the sunset.

That isn't to say they can't still find that with either of their two in-house starters from 2025, but if the Giants were to look for a proven replacement for one of them, a guy to take a look at is Cleveland's Devin Bush in free agency.

Bush, a former first-round pick out of Michigan in 2019, is a hard-nosed football player who has grown into a solid playmaker for three different NFL franchises. He is certainly a player that head coach John Harbaugh should have some familiarity with from their respective duels in the AFC North, where Bush spent time with the Steelers before joining the Browns in 2024.

Bush's career started a bit rocky, but he soon climbed the depth chart and became a reliable starter for the Browns over the past two seasons. In 2025, the 29-year-old finished second on the team with 125 tackles (63 solo), a career-high, two sacks, 7 tackles for loss, three interceptions, with two returned for touchdowns, two forced fumbles, and 8 pass deflections.

It's fair to say Bush was almost a one-man wrecking crew for the Browns, but he was joined by Defensive Rookie of the Year winner Carson Schwesinger as two of three players to record over 100 tackles for the franchise.

The Browns have to be feeling good that they've found a long-term centerpiece in Schwesinger to command the middle of their defense. Perhaps they won't want to invest a large sum of money into Bush, whose services would be better utilized on another team with sights on being a contender.

New York would fit that mold and could certainly benefit from Bush's strengths as a downhill tackler and run stopper. He earned his best run defense grade (87.3) this past season, whiffing on just nine of his tackles while making 44 stops along the line of scrimmage against the run.

Bush's projected market value sits at around $8.89 million, according to Spotrac. McFadden would also be a cheap re-sign coming off an injury-plagued year, so we could see the Giants pair the two after accruing some savings from a potential Okereke transaction.

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Best Route: Draft or Free Agency?

Compared to some of their other needs that are more one-sided, the Giants could really go both ways in addressing the linebacker position this offseason.

As mentioned, the unit is extremely thin, especially with a few returning guys limited to special teams roles during the 2025 season. The Giants don't have enough insurance to cover the inevitable injury bug sweeping through the roster.

Thus, it wouldn't be a bad strategy for Joe Schoen to be aggressive in pursuing a new veteran leader in free agency, assuming the Giants are moving on from Bobby Okereke. Once the draft rolls around, there are plenty of prospects that could impress at the combine and get placed on the team's draft board for Day 2 or 3 consideration in April.

The Giants' linebacker room should be a spot where a couple of additions are made in the coming months, especially as they want to strengthen the interior against the run and take some of the pressure off of the secondary, which has been under the spotlight.