Tremaine Edmunds reacts after sacking New Orleans Saints quarterback Spencer Rattler. David Banks-Imagn Images

Grading Giants' Signing of ILB Tremaine Edmunds

Originally posted on New York Giants on SI
By Jeremy Brener | Last updated Mar 11, 2026 4:00 PM ET

The New York Giants are making inside linebacker Tremaine Edmunds their replacement for Bobby Okereke after agreeing to terms with Edmunds on a three-year, $36 million contract on the first day of the league's legal tampering period.

Edmunds, who spent the last three seasons with the Bears after initially entering the NFL in 2018 as a first-round draft pick of the Buffalo Bills, who at the time had current Giants general manager Joe Schoen on the staff, is a two-time Pro Bowler, having made back-to-back Pro Bowls in 2019 and 2020.

The 6-foot-4, 251-pound linebacker has started every regular-season game in which he’s played (119) and has 900 regular-season tackles, 43 tackles for loss, 59 pass breakups, and 14 interceptions in regular-season play.

He has been mostly durable throughout his career, though this past season, he suffered a groin injury that landed him on injured reserve from Week 14 onward. He finished the campaign with 61 tackles and four interceptions in 13 games played.

Edmunds Can Slide Into Big Role With Giants

Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images

Edmunds has been fairly consistent throughout his career and has been relatively healthy as well. He's played in at least 13 games in each of his first eight NFL seasons, and he has made the playoffs in five of those years. He also has recorded a minimum of 100 tackles in each of his seasons.

Where Edmunds potentially offers an upgrade over recently released Bobby Okereke is in coverage. Edmunds has 14 career interceptions, double that of Okereke's career total.

He also has 31 pass breakups, 10 more than Okereke. Edmunds still has good sideline-to-sideline range and might be a better overall fit for the type of defense being planned by new defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson.

The inside linebacker role on Harbaugh-coached teams is an important one and usually goes to a player that is one of the stronger talents in the league. Ray Lewis, C.J. Mosley, Patrick Queen, and Roquan Smith are examples of players that have had tremendous success with Harbaugh as the middle linebacker, and now Edmunds will look to join that elite company.

This move doesn't prevent the Giants from going out to get a linebacker in the NFL Draft next month, but it gives the defense a foundation to build on, making this signing a necessary and important one.

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