Why Abdul Carter Holds the Key to Giants' Elite Defensive Front

The New York Giants have successfully built one of the most promising defensive fronts in football over the past few seasons, investing heavily in both free agency and the NFL Draft.

With the trade to send Dexter Lawrence to the Cincinnati Bengals, the Giants' overall front lost an elite player. However, the group itself is still near the top of the league due to the outside linebacker room and what should be a much-improved inside linebacker room.

The outside linebacker room has arguably the best trio in the NFL right now, headlined by Brian Burns coming off a career-high 16.5-sack season, in which he made his first All-Pro appearance of his career.

Kayvon Thibodeaux, entering the final year of his career, hasn’t become the dominant pass-rusher many expected. Still, he’s become a high-level run defender on the edge and was one of the few Giants who could genuinely set the edge on his own.

With the third overall pick last year, the Giants drafted Abdul Carter as a Swiss-army knife of sorts on the front, who spent most of his rookie year on the edge but would also situationally play off-ball.

In year two, Carter should play an expanded role that would let the Giants get all three of these players on the field at the same time, now that he’s been able to have more time with the playbook.

Abdul Carter, OLB

Height: 6-3
Weight: 252
EXP: 2 Years
School: Penn State
How Acquired: D1-‘25

2025 in Review

Carter was the third overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, with his versatility as a major pre-draft selling point: he wasn’t just capable of playing multiple positions on the defensive front. Still, he could do so at a high level in the future.

There were moments where he showed flashes of how dominant he can be on the edge, ending the year on a very high note where he registered four or more pressures in each of the final five games, with six against the Patriots, four against the Commanders, six against the Vikings, seven against the Raiders, and five against the Cowboys.

In week three against the Chiefs, Carter played almost exclusively as an off-ball linebacker, but that was the only game where most of his snaps came off-ball.

Where Carter struggled mightily was as a run defender; he did a good job of using his athleticism to win and put himself in a good position to make a play, but missed tackles plagued him all year.

That isn’t uncommon for rookies, especially as they get adjusted not just to the speed and strength of NFL athletes but also to players' ability to create extra yardage.

Contract/Cap Info

Given Carter's high draft pick, he signed a standard four-year contract worth $45,255,180, fully guaranteed at signing, with a fifth-year option.

Due to the contract being fully guaranteed, it’s safe to assume that Carter will not be cut or traded at any point due to the cap penalty attached.

Since Carter was a first-round pick, there’s an automatic fifth-year option in his contract that the Giants can use to secure another year of team control.

The fifth-year option has varying levels of pay based on both how much a player plays and whether there are any Pro Bowl appearances.

Carter will likely be eligible for the playing time level, which requires at least 50% of defensive snaps played in all three seasons or 75% of snaps played in two or more seasons, which means he would only need to play 75% of snaps in one more season, as he played 76% in 2025.

That playing time bonus, should the Giants exercise the option, would pay Carter the average of the 3rd to 20th highest-paid player at his position over the past five years.

2026 Preview

Dec 21, 2025; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Giants linebacker Abdul Carter (51) reacts after a tackle against the Minnesota Vikings during the second half at MetLife Stadium. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

In his second year, with the talent around him now including the fifth-overall pick in Arvell Reese, Carter should be able to contribute in more ways.

Positionally, I would expect Carter to play more off-ball, as he played about half of his off-ball snaps for the year in the Chiefs game alone.

Now that Carter has had a full winter under his belt as a pro and has his rookie season film to learn from, there’s an opportunity for major growth as a sophomore.

Many year-two pass-rushers tend to take a dip in production because NFL film is now available for offensive linemen to watch and prepare for.

Carter’s ability to counter offensive linemen will determine if he can build off his 66-pressure rookie season.

With the versatility of the defensive scheme, there should be times when Carter is on the field with all three of Burns, Thibodeaux, and Reese - where any of them can rush the passer or drop into coverage.

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