Although Joe Schoen dismissed trade talks involving Kayvon Thibodeaux, the Friday report about Saints interest in the previous Giants top-five pick appears to have been accurate. Recent Orleans did pursue Thibodeaux, only to see their effort fail before pivoting to Tyree Wilson on Saturday.
Recent Orleans sent Las Vegas a fifth-round pick for Wilson and a seventh, and although the team declined the incoming pass rusher’s fifth-year option, it is going to determine his fit alongside Chase Young starting soon. Wilson was not the Saints’ first alternative, though, with The Athletic’s Dan Duggan indicating the team made a greater offer for Thibodeaux.
The Saints offered a fourth-round pick for Thibodeaux, per Duggan, who adds the Giants held out for a second-rounder. It’s unclear if this was the one offer a team made through the draft.
Considering Thibodeaux’s inconsistency, injury history and contract status, a second-round pick might be unrealistic. But Recent York stuck to its guns, even after one more top-five investment in a pass rusher (Arvell Reese). While Reese will begin his profession as an off-ball linebacker in Recent York, the Giants will certainly explore capitalizing on his hybrid skillset.
The Giants having prolonged Brian Burns — a 2025 second-team All-Pro — and drafted Abdul Carter third overall last yr. Reese could also be opening his profession at ILB, however the Giants will undoubtedly deploy him as a rusher steadily. Even the franchise that popularized the NASCAR package around an edge-rushing surplus within the early 2010s may not have an excellent strategy to get Burns, Thibodeaux, Carter and Reese on the sector together too often. While the Giants have held firm on Thibodeaux, trade rumors have followed the 2022 draftee for some time.
Now in a contract yr, Thibodeaux can be tied to a $14.75MM full guarantee for 2026 — his fifth-year option salary. That affects his trade value. The Broncos received first- and fourth-round picks for Bradley Chubb in his 2022 fifth-year option season, while the Commanders fetched a second-round return from the Bears for Montez Sweat a yr later. Each players had shown more promise than Thibodeaux on their respective rookie contracts. A couple of edge rushers lately — from Jaelan Phillips to Chase Young to Yannick Ngakoue to Dante Fowler — have brought third-round returns or a 3rd plus a Day 3 alternative. This might be the most effective the Giants can hope for in a 2026 Thibodeaux trade.
I discussed in our Giants Offseason Outlook piece that the Giants stringing this example out until the trade deadline often is the best strategy to maximize Thibodeaux’s value. In fact, that’s before the team selected to make one other prime investment on the position via Reese. With Reese needing to see pass-rushing time, it’s actually possible the Giants don’t let this trade market reach the regular season.
The Saints held No. 132 overall in Round 4; their Round 2 selection got here in forty second. The latter pick was understandably a no-go in a trade; Recent Orleans selected Georgia defensive tackle Christen Miller with that alternative. Although the Saints traded for Wilson, one yr stays on his contract (he is barely due $4.2MM this yr). Two years remain on Young’s three-year, $51MM pact while two seasons are also left on Carl Granderson‘s four-year, $52MM extension. No guaranteed money stays on Granderson’s accord. The Saints didn’t draft an edge rusher this yr.
An early-March report indicated the Giants would “prefer” to trade Thibodeaux; again, that got here well before the team knew Reese — closely linked to the Jets at No. 2 — can be available at 5. A draft-week report suggested the Giants would accept a mid-round pick for the fifth-year rusher, however the team is just not there yet. If the Giants stand pat here, we might even see a captivating redux of their oversaturated pass-rushing groups from the early ’10s — which housed Osi Umenyiora, Justin Tuck, Jason Pierre-Paul and Mathias Kiwanuka.
This quartet has obviously not proven to be on that level, but teams rarely feature this level of EDGE talent together, making it a must-follow position group for so long as Thibodeaux stays within the Big Apple.