Giants GM Joe Schoen Reveals Team’s Current Stance on Kayvon Thibodeaux’s Future

New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen left the door open a bit on a potential trade of outside linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux, a player he admitted the team received quite a few calls about last season before the trade deadline.

“Right now, Kayvon’s gonna be with us,” Schoen told reporters at the combine. “He played well. He is going into his fifth year, and he’s motivated. And you can’t have enough pass rushers.”

Schoen’s use of “right now” is notable, marking his answer as temporary.

While Schon is correct in saying that a team can’t have too many pass rushers, the problem arises when the team either can’t figure out how to deploy them all at once or if there is overlap between the skill sets of the pass rushers.

That appears to be the challenge that last year’s arrival of Abdul Carter created for the Giants as far as trying to find a way for Carter, Thibodeaux, and Brian Burns to all operate on the field together.

Last year, the edge rushing trio appeared in just 164 defensive snaps. Part of the reason for the low number could be Thibodeaux’s season-ending shoulder injury, which cost him the final seven games and, in turn, limited the trio to just 10 games together.

In those ten games, the Giants' defense averaged 7.3% sacks per pass attempt, 93.8 yards per game, 21.1 rushing yards per game, and 72.7 passing yards per game.

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Giants need to be open-minded regarding a trade

Thibodeaux is set to make $14.75 million in the option year of his rookie deal. Unless new defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson has a plan to get the three edge rushers on the field more and help Thibodeaux return to double-digit sack seasons, as he did in 2023, that money could go to waste.

Another consideration: Thibodeaux, limited to 22 games in two seasons due to injuries, will likely seek a big contract, which may be unaffordable if the Giants must pay Malik Nabers soon.

Trading Thibodeaux now would likely ensure that the Giants, who only have two draft picks in the top 100, can potentially pick up more assets to use this year. But that said, any offer must include a Day 2 pick, which, from the Giants' perspective, would ease the sting of having to go from pick 37 in the second round to pick 105 in the fourth.

Playing things out in the hopes of landing a comp pick for Thibodeaux would be a foolish strategy, as comp picks are not guaranteed and hinge on too many factors, some of which are beyond a team’s control.

This is something the Giants saw when they lost running back Saquon Barkley and safety Xavier McKinney in free agency. Further, even if the Giants were to get a compensatory pick, it wouldn’t help them until the following year.

Although Schoen said that the team isn’t actively exploring a trade partner for Thibodeaux–to admit to that would be to give up some leverage–there is no question that Thibodeaux’s being on the field in 2026 is not a slam dunk at the moment.