Linebacker Micah McFadden Grateful to Be Back with Giants

Right from the moment he learned his 2025 season was over before it had a chance to begin, New York Giants linebacker Micah McFadden couldn’t wait to get back on the field.

He’ll be able to do so starting this spring after successfully rehabbing from the season-ending Lisfranc injury he suffered in Week 1.

“Doing great. I've improved a lot,” McFadden told reporters on a video call after officially signing his one-year contract.

“Even since the end of the year. But getting hurt in game one, you have a lot of time to recover after that. And like I said, working with the Giants and getting back to a place where I was able to go back home and kind of start my normal off-season program, working out and running and doing everything I need to do to play football this year.”

McFadden, who had hoped to cash in on his rising production–he had posted back-to-back 100+ tackle seasons prior to the injury–will look to re-establish his place in the market for next year.

For the time being, he’s grateful to the Giants for not giving up on him, which they obviously could have done given the depth of linebackers in this year’s draft class.

“It means a lot. I'm excited to be back,” he said.

“Obviously, missing all last year was disappointing for me. I wanted to play with the guys, the new guys we had brought in, and the guys who were already here. I wanted to go and perform for this football team and help them win games. So I'm excited to be back.”

Former Chicago Bears linebacker Tremaine Edmunds is coming in to replace Bobby Okereke as the leader in the middle of the defense. | Mike Dinovo-Imagn Images

This year, McFadden will have a new partner in the middle of the defense in Tremaine Edmunds, who comes in as the replacement for Bobby Okereke, whom the Giants released in a cap-savings move last week.

“I haven't met him personally,” McFadden said of Edmunds. “But obviously I've seen him in the league over the past few years, and I think he's a great player, great athlete, and I'm excited to get out on the field with him.”

There will also be a new defensive scheme to learn, which is being brought in by Dennard Wilson.

“I think it was a phenomenal hire,” McFadden said of Wilson. “I got to speak with the coaches and (head coach) John (Harbaugh) this morning.

“I'm excited to be in this scheme,” he added. “I haven't played in this exact scheme, but I had some coaches in the past that have been with John and kind of run something similar.”

McFadden knows that his spot on the starting defense needs to be earned, and there is a possibility the team will continue to bring in players at his position.

“I'm going to go out there, compete and go and try and win a starting job, and go put my best foot forward during this off-season and into training camp, and we'll see where it falls after that,” he said.

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