Kayvon Thibodeaux welcomes the idea of Abdul Carter fueling the Giants' pass rush

When the Giants made edge rusher Abdul Carter the third overall pick in the 2025 draft, many wondered whether it would impact the team's plans for 2022 first-round edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux. The Giants quickly resolved any doubt by announcing that same night that they would be exercising Thibodeaux's fifth-year option.

Despite the potentially crowded house at the position, given the presence of Thibodeaux, Carter, and Brian Burns, Thibodeaux welcomes the infusion of talent.

"I think [Carter’s] a great player," Thibodeaux said Tuesday night, via Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com. "We can use him in a lot of different ways. I'm excited to see him come in and grind and [see] what we're going to get."

What they have is Thibodeaux under contract for two more years, Burns for four, and Carter for at least four.

Although the fifth-year option is nothing more than a team-friendly device for delaying a long-term deal, Thibodeaux welcomes it.

"It's another step," he said. "For me, it's just more fuel. Definitely blessed and humbled to be in a position to have another year in the league. Coming up on that [career] average, I think it's 3.5 [years]. You play that fourth season and I think you're in good company. I'm super blessed, super excited, energized. We have a great team and we'll go do some good things."

Thibodeaux envisions all three of their pass rushers getting on the field at the same time.

"We're those tweeners," Thibodeaux said. "If you look at my skill set, Brian's skill set -- Brian can rush inside. I can, but Brian is probably better rushing inside than I am. But Brian can rush inside. I can rush inside. He can rush from depth. I can rush from depth being at that linebacker position. So can Abdul. . . . We'll see how they mix it up. But we'll all be on the field at some point."

Thibodeaux had 11.5 sacks in 2024. Last year, during which he missed five games due to injury, Thibodeaux had 5.5 sacks. As a rookie, he finished fourth in the Defensive Rookie of the Year voting.

The long-term plan for Thibodeaux and Burns remains to be seen. The short term plan could have all three players creating the kind of havoc that could help the Giants close the growing gap between New York and the teams at the top of the division — Philadelphia and Washington.