Four years after the Giants spent the fifth overall pick on Kayvon Thibodeaux, the outside linebacker’s time with the club may be nearing an end. The Giants have shown a willingness to listen to offers for Thibodeaux. The sense from teams that have spoken with the Giants is that they would “prefer” to move him, Connor Hughes of SNY reports. League sources expect a trade to occur, per Hughes.

Thanks in part to injuries, Thibodeaux has not met expectations during his NFL career. The former Oregon Duck missed three games in his first season, though he finished fourth in Defensive Rookie of the Year voting during a 49-tackle, four-sack campaign. Thibodeaux followed that up with a prolific 2023 in which he recorded 50 tackles, 16 QB hits, 12 TFL and 11.5 sacks over 17 games. His health and production have trended in the wrong direction since then.

Thibodeaux was on IR at times in each of the past two seasons, during which he combined for 12 absences and eight sacks. He registered a career-low 2.5 sacks over 10 games in 2025. A shoulder injury shelved him for the Giants’ last seven games.

Now 25, Thibodeaux is on track to reach free agency after next season. In the meantime, he will earn $14.571MM on his fifth-year option in 2026. Giants general manager Joe Schoen saw enough positives from Thibodeaux during his first three years to exercise the option last spring, but his stock has fallen since then. Multiple sources told Hughes it would be a challenge for the Giants to acquire anything above a fourth-rounder for Thibodeaux.

Selling low on Thibodeaux would be unfortunate for Schoen, who used his first draft pick as a GM on him in 2022. But a couple of Schoen’s more recent investments in pass rushers may make it easier to bid goodbye to Thibodeaux. Schoen dealt second- and fifth-rounders to the Panthers in a 2024 package for Brian Burns. He has since amassed 25 sacks, including a career-high 16.5 last season. The GM went on to spend another premium pick, No. 3 overall, on pass rusher Abdul Carter a year ago. With Burns and Carter ahead of Thibodeaux in the pecking order, an offseason trade looks like a strong possibility.