The focus in New York on Dexter Lawrence‘s trade request took some attention off another former first-round pick who could be on the block: Kayvon Thibodeaux.
The No. 5 overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft enters the fifth and final year of his contract. With the Giants already paying Brian Burns big money and having drafted Abdul Carter last year, the assumption is that Thibodeaux isn’t long for New York. A trade would curtail the Giants’ pass rush but could bring some compensation for a player not in the long-term plans.
Harbaugh was asked about Thibodeaux at the opening of the Giants’ voluntary workouts on Tuesday.
“I think he’s a great player. I’m excited about him,” Harbaugh responded. “I was fired up to see him today. He looks great, he’s in great shape. I’m thinking about him on the field, getting him plugged into our defense and getting him rolling.”
The question came from Dan Duggan, long-time Giants beat reporter currently working for The Athletic, who took a playful ribbing from Harbaugh.
“You want to talk about is he a trade possibility? Everybody’s tradeable, everybody. Even you’re tradeable, Dan. If we can get something for you, we’d trade you in a heartbeat,” Harbaugh quipped to laughter from the media present.
The coach insisted his focus is on getting Thibodeaux ready to play, and let the front office handle the other aspects.
“It’s not really what you focus on,” he said of the trade chatter. “You focus on the fact that we’re having a day, we’re talking ball, we’re getting our team coming together as a team. The business part of it is the business part. That kind of swirls around us. We try to lock in on the football.”
The reality for the Giants is that the longer they hang onto Thibodeaux, the less they’ll get back in any trade return. Keeping him into the season would provide the Giants with a potent pass-rush rotation, but is that the best use of their assets long-term? The decision could come down to how quickly Harbaugh believes his team will take to legitimately compete for the division and conference titles.
Trading Thibodeaux would clear the $14.751 million guaranteed from the Giants’ books, money they could use through the season — or help them bridge the financial gap to keep Lawrence.
It was somewhat of a surprise that the Giants rebuffed calls for Thibodeaux last year, when his return might have been at its greatest. We’ll see if the organization changes course in the coming weeks. They could trade the pass rusher ahead of the 2026 NFL Draft. They could hold on until after the selection process to see if a club that struck out on the top edge players feels pressed to make a move this summer. The Giants could assess where they’re at approaching the fall trade deadline. Or they could let it ride, hope for a productive season from their first-rounder, and allow him to hit free agency in 2027 – a compensatory pick could come into play, but that would also mean the Giants wouldn’t be very active in the market next spring.
For now, Thibodeaux is a Giant. We’ll see how long that holds true.
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