The Brian Burns injury will have devastating ripple effects for the New York Giants.
New York Giants superstar edge rusher Brian Burns is out for the remainder of the season due to a torn ACL, which is devastating for a variety of reasons.
First of all, the Giants have now lost their best defensive player just a week after losing their quarterback. That's brutal enough as it is, and it obviously puts to bed any chance New York has of making the playoffs.
But Burns' injury goes far beyond just the Giants' playoff implications. It also sends ripple effects throughout the rest of the roster, and perhaps the most notable of them all is Kayvon Thibodeaux.
Thibodeaux entered the year as New York's third edge rusher behind Burns and Abdul Carter, but he will now be pushed into a starting role.
Not that Thibodeaux can't handle it. He was a starter before Carter arrived last season, and he racked up 50 tackles and 11.5 sacks back in 2023.
But Thibodeaux is in the final year of his contract, and the Giants may have looked to move him at the NFL trade deadline this November.
That obviously becomes more difficult now that Burns is sidelined.
Could New York still trade Thibodeaux? Of course. If the Giants are focused on the future, they can move Thibodeaux for a draft pick before Nov. 10 and then figure things out from there. Chauncey Golston could always go back to playing the edge on more of a full-time basis, but that would be unfortunate because of his overall versatility on the interior.
New York could always look to explore the free-agent market for another edge rusher just to sign as a bench piece.
The Giants could also always start using Arvell Reese in more of an edge role, but that probably isn't the best idea given just how good he looked at inside linebacker against the Tennessee Titans on Sunday.
I do think some time on the edge could be in Reese's future. After all, he displayed pass-rushing chops at Ohio State. But it also wouldn't be wise to force him into the role so early in his development. Especially when he has been working as an inside linebacker since he arrived in New York.
As you can see, there are a lot of hurdles the Giants will now have to clear, the most glaring one being just how they manage without their top defender moving forward.
New York is 2-1 and will host the Arizona Cardinals in Week 4.
