The New York Giants have an abundance of riches at the pass rush position, and one prominent reporter believes John Harbaugh could trade Kayvon Thibodeaux to his former team. Selected with the fifth-overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, the Oregon product looked destined to be one of the league’s better pass rushers early in his career. After all, he recorded 11.5 sacks in his second season while starting in all 17 games. However, he only recorded 2.5 sacks last year as injuries limited him to just 10 games.
Now entering the final year of his rookie contract, ESPN’s Bill Barnwell believes the Giants could trade Kayvon Thibodeaux to the Baltimore Ravens for a 2026 fourth-round pick.
“The Giants can afford Thibodeaux’s $14.8 million salary in 2026, but it’s probably not the ideal use of cash…Landing a guaranteed pick now and freeing up money to help address the offensive line and secondary might be a reasonable alternative for Giants GM Joe Schoen,” Barnwell writes. “The Ravens, on the other hand, are thin on the edge…No Ravens player had more than five sacks last season.”
Ravens, Giants Connected In Kayvon Thibodeaux Trade Rumors
It’s easy to see why the Ravens would want to make the Kayvon Thibodeaux trade. First-year head coach Jesse Minter needs to bring this team on a deep playoff run, as Baltimore has a talented roster and one of the game’s premier quarterbacks in Lamar Jackson. However, what they don’t have is a pass rush.
As alluded to in Barnwell’s article, the team struggled to get after the quarterback in 2025. Second-round pick Mike Green showed some promise as a rookie, but Odafe Oweh is now a Charger, and Kyle Van Noy isn’t getting any younger. Even if the team re-signs him, he isn’t a long-term solution at the position.
Kayvon Thibodeaux may not have lived up to his draft capital, but the trade target is entering his age-26 season and has double-digit sack potential. Getting a player like that for a Day 3 pick is good business, even if he probably wouldn’t be anything more than a one-year rental. Of course, it takes two to tango, so would the Giants agree to this move?
Possible Hurdles
On paper, the New York Giants have two great edge defenders in Brian Burns and former third-overall pick Abdul Carter. If both players reach their respective ceilings, Kayvon Thibodeaux will struggle to see the field. While nobody can question Burns, Carter comes with a few red flags.
While the Penn State product had a good pressure rate as a rookie, he only recorded four sacks and finished the season with a 74.7 PFF grade – an encouraging mark, but not an elite one. Additionally, the previous administration benched Carter on multiple occasions for a questionable work ethic and attendance issues. Nobody denies his elite ceiling, but the Penn State product has a wide range of outcomes, and it wouldn’t make sense to trade Kayvon Thibodeaux when nobody knows what Carter will bring to the table.
Additionally, Giants head coach John Harbaugh probably won’t want to make any moves with his former team. Harbaugh and the Ravens didn’t exactly end things on the best of terms, so why would the coach want to help his former club hoist the Lombardi Trophy? If Baltimore makes an absurd offer, Harbaugh may have no choice but to accept. However, a fourth-round pick won’t be enough to move the needle.
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