It hasn’t been a secret that the Giants would be willing to trade OLB Kayvon Thibodeaux for the right price. The team has been sending out all the usual signals that they want to field offers for the former No. 5 overall pick, but the upcoming draft just might be the impetus that pushes a deal over the finish line. 

New York has reportedly been seeking a Day 2 pick, so perhaps a team that misses out on drafting an edge rusher ponies up the pick instead. More than likely, the Giants’ asking price for Thibodeaux could drop. If they’re willing to take a fourth-round pick, that’s a price point that would be far more appealing for teams. 

There’s some precedent for that, too. The Commanders traded away DE Chase Young for the No. 100 overall pick (technically a third-rounder but that slot has been in the fourth round in plenty of drafts). That deal was midseason and Young was in a contract year. Thibodeaux is owed $14.751 million on his fifth-year option, which is affordable for a starting edge rusher but not inconsequential for teams figuring out the logistics of a deal. 

It’s also a deep class of edge rushers. Our draft writer Ethan Woodie has well over 12 that he’d take in the first three rounds and that’s generally how most see the class, even if opinions vary on who exactly those names are. Plenty of teams will prefer to draft a player they can have for cheap for the next four years rather than send a pick for Thibodeaux, who has not lived up to the sky-high expectations for him coming out of Oregon. 

However, there will be a few teams that find the proven commodity more appealing, especially if the Giants relax their asking price. New York is trying to win in the first year under new HC John Harbaugh and good teams need good pass rushers, so they won’t give Thibodeaux away for a song. But Harbaugh didn’t draft Thibodeaux and views him as the third-best edge rusher on the roster, so there’s a path to thread the needle here for a trade. 

Potential Trade Destinations

If you scan depth charts around the league, there’s a good case to be made that at least half need help at edge rusher. The true number is probably over 20. Some of that is because teams are always trying to load up the room and go four deep like the Super Bowl champion Seahawks — and they weren’t the first ones to successfully execute that template either. Others are still a long way away from that ideal. 

So even though this class may be super deep at edge rusher, the demand is still probably going to outstrip the supply, leaving a potential window for a Thibodeaux trade if the other logistics can be worked out. His salary will be one. Teams have to have the cap space to take on a contract at the time of a trade, even if they rework things later on. Using Thibodeaux’s $14.751 million salary as a cutoff, there are 10 teams that would be ruled out per Over The Cap’s current cap space rankings. Nearly all of those teams could make more room if they wanted to but it’s a data point to consider. 

Previous connections also weigh heavily when it comes to big transactions. People just prize familiarity, especially when making huge decisions that involve tens of millions and job security for not just yourself, but dozens in the building. That’s why you’ll see coaches and executives gravitate toward players they’ve worked with before who are known quantities. When it comes to Thibodeaux, who has a big personality, there are a few notable connections to know. 

Factoring all that in, here are some teams that stand out as potential landing spots if Thibodeaux is traded: 

New England Patriots

The Patriots are at the center of the blockbuster trade buzz for a different player, Eagles WR A.J. Brown, but in the immortal words of that one taco commercial from the late 2000s, por que no los dos? At this stage, a Brown trade wouldn’t be until after June 1 and involve 2027 picks. New England has 11 picks’ worth of ammunition in 2026 to work with, including a late third-rounder at No. 95 overall and two fourth-round selections. 

The team has also been open about its goal of improving the pass rush in 2026 to make sure last year’s trip to the Super Bowl was not a one-time thing for HC Mike Vrabel and company. They signed Dre’Mont Jones in free agency to join a room that includes veteran Harold Landry and second-year youngsters Bradyn Swinson and Elijah Ponder. Jones and Landry are solid but Jones’ career-best in sacks is seven which he reached last year. Even though Landry had 8.5 sacks last year, he turns 30 in June and injuries have started to slow him down. 

While Thibodeaux has been a disappointment, relatively speaking, his best season was still on par with Landry’s best year back in 2022 — and he’s still just 26 years old. His best football could be in front of him with the help of a fresh start. One of the challenges the Patriots are aware of at the back end of the round is that the talent is more picked through, especially at premium positions. For a team that “overachieved” last season, per owner Robert Kraft, not just anyone, that is an extra challenge on the path to being a sustained contender. 

One way to get around that is to take shots on players who the NFL evaluated as having elite talent but for whatever reason have underachieved. Thibodeaux fits that profile. The Patriots also have multiple coaches on staff who worked with him in New York, including DC Zak Kuhr and longtime Vrabel confidante Shane Bowen who was just added to the staff in a senior assistant role. Add it all up, and New England makes tons of sense as the most likely landing spot for Thibodeaux if he’s traded. 

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Buccaneers have been trying to fix their pass rush for a couple of seasons now, taking multiple stabs at hopeful solutions in free agency and the draft. None of it has worked out to this point. Tampa Bay was priced out of an edge rusher market this March that had some big names, settling for a one-year dart throw on veteran Al-Quadin Muhammad. Free agency is now picked through and the draft could be the last substantial chance the Bucs have to address this weakness. 

Unfortunately with a pick at No. 15 overall, the only way to get one of the top edge rushers is going to be an expensive trade up into the top 10 selections, and even those guys have more warts this year than usual. While GM Jason Licht has tended to gravitate toward a best player available approach, he might have to reach to fill the team’s need at pass rusher given where his picks fall. 

To guard against that, the Buccaneers could trade for a proven veteran like Thibodeaux instead. He almost certainly would be more appealing to HC Todd Bowles as a proven NFL commodity than a rookie, and that matters for Bowles since he finished last year on the hot seat. His job security might ride on fixing the problem at edge rusher — and just because the Buccaneers draft a player doesn’t mean the problem will be fixed. In the last four seasons, they’ve used a first, second and a third on an edge rusher, and that hasn’t prevented the current predicament. 

Thibodeaux isn’t necessarily a panacea for all of Tampa Bay’s pass-rushing problems either, but sometimes the impact of adding a guy goes beyond just their individual talent or contributions. Thibodeaux is good enough to raise the level of the room as a whole. Adding him and Muhammad to go along with an incumbent like OLB YaYa Diaby and perhaps another young player or two, and it just might be enough. 

Tampa Bay has a connection it can lean on for information, as WR coach Bryan McClendon served as the interim head coach at Oregon during Thibodeaux’s last season. While that was a while ago, that can give them some firsthand insight into Thibodeaux’s personality which is not going to be a fit for every building. The Bucs fall just under the cutoff for cap space to take on his salary but they have plenty of options to restructure and add cap space, so that’s not a big concern. 

Tennessee Titans

The Titans have already made a few moves to rebuild their edge rushing room and there’s a great chance they make another with their first pick of the draft at No. 4 overall. But if they end up going a different direction, it’s worth keeping a light on for a potential Thibodeaux trade. 

New Titans HC Robert Saleh comes from organizations that have poured resources into the defensive line year after year, whether it was the Jets or either of his stints with the 49ers. Those teams regularly kept 10 defensive linemen through roster cuts in August and many of them were premium picks or signings. Saleh wants waves of rushers coming at opponents from both the edge and the interior, and rotates heavily so he always has fresh legs attacking offensive linemen who as a rule tend to play the whole game. 

So even if the Titans take a pass rusher No. 4 overall, they would have room for a player like Thibodeaux in a room that includes Jermaine Johnson, 2025 second-rounder Oluwafemi Oladejo and Jacob Martin. The resource allocation becomes a bit trickier with all of Tennessee’s other needs, especially on offense around QB Cam Ward, but the need would remain. 

There would be no shortage of familiarity with Thibodeaux from Titans decision-makers. New OC Brian Daboll was his head coach for the Giants when he was drafted and for his entire career so far. Saleh also evaluated Thibodeaux heavily in 2022, as the Jets had the No. 4 pick that year, meeting with him multiple times including an official 30 visit. They ultimately passed and took CB Sauce Gardner, which proved to be a correct evaluation, but that doesn’t mean the Jets didn’t have a high grade on Thibodeaux. It would cost far less for Saleh and Daboll to get him this time. 

One factor for the Titans to consider would be how confident they are in re-signing Thibodeaux since he’s in a contract year. He’s quite aware of the business opportunities available for players, on and off the field, and is originally from the West Coast. There’s a good chance he’d push to test his free agent market, and at that point could find other options more attractive than staying in Nashville. The Titans are unlikely to be in a position to collect a compensatory pick if he leaves in 2027, and giving up picks for short-term rentals is ill-advised at this stage of their rebuild. 

Indianapolis Colts

Another team with a big need at pass rusher, the Colts were able to make some smaller moves to fill out the room, signing Arden Key and Micheal Clemons to join recent top picks Laiatu Latu and JT Tuimoloau. Key is a proven No. 3 pass rusher, Clemons is a run defense specialist, and the hope is Latu can make another leap after having 8.5 sacks last year. Given they don’t have a first-round pick, that room is probably viewed as good enough internally to take into the season. 

Is “good enough” good enough for the Colts in 2026, though? It’s a big year for HC Shane Steichen and GM Chris Ballard, with owner Carlie Irsay-Gordon stopping just short of saying they have a playoff or bust mandate after years out of the postseason. Issues at edge rusher would be a good way to short-circuit another season in Indianapolis, and it’s been a consistent problem area for Ballard during his tenure, which is going on nine years. 

That might prompt Ballard to get aggressive and creative. The Colts are down first-round picks this year and next after trading for CB Sauce Gardner, but they still have mid-round selections in the range of what it would likely cost to pry Thibodeaux from the Giants. Thibodeaux would also likely project better than most of the rookies available to Indianapolis, especially in the all-important 2026 season. 

They also might have another trade chip in CB Kenny Moore, who the team is working with on a trade to clear the way for younger players. Including him would free $10 million which would offset most of the cost of Thibodeaux’s salary and give Harbaugh a smart, trusted veteran in the pivotal nickel defender role in his scheme. It’s possible the Giants would be willing to do a straight player-for-player swap, but at minimum, it could defray the pick the Colts would be required to send back. Moore and a fifth for Thibodeaux could be a win-win for both sides. 

A connection worth mentioning: new Colts secondary coach Jerome Henderson wasn’t Thibodeaux’s position coach but he was on staff for most of Thibodeaux’s tenure in New York. That gives the Colts firsthand information to support a decision, one way or another. 

Baltimore Ravens

The Ravens are still looking to add to their edge rushing group even after signing Trey Hendrickson. If we take Baltimore at its word, the Ravens wanted to pair up both Hendrickson and Maxx Crosby, but since then, most of the conversation has shifted to be about a potential rookie or a late-summer veteran addition. The rest of the room includes Mike Green, Tavius Robinson and Adisa Isaac, all three on rookie contracts. 

Green flashed some upside as a rookie and Robinson is a good grunt player, while Isaac hardly played. The Ravens could take another edge rusher on either Day 2 or early Day 3 and bring in a veteran to round out the room and be just fine. But they do have a little more cash than usual to play with, almost $30 million per Over The Cap, and that gives them the flexibility to make a bigger splash if they choose. Trading for Thibodeaux would give them another quality player who is better against the run than Hendrickson and also has double-digit sack potential. 

There aren’t any notable connections to Thibodeaux in the front office or on the new coaching staff but back in 2022 when Thibodeaux was going through the pre-draft process, he did meet with the Ravens for dinner after Oregon’s pro day. That’s kind of interesting considering Baltimore was picking No. 14 and Thibodeaux was widely expected to be a top-ten pick. The team may have just been covering its bases for all possible outcomes but meetings like these tend to be cited after the fact when trades come together. Teams do rely on research they’ve compiled during the pre-draft process far beyond that actual year. 

Chicago Bears

I continue to think the best way for the Bears to take a step forward and become annual contenders, not just a feel-good one-year story, is to load up on pass rushers and get back to their Monsters of the Midway roots. They haven’t added any edge rushers yet and have made just one notable signing on the defensive line. Perhaps they’re higher on their current personnel, or perhaps they’re waiting for the draft to make a splash. 

But if the board doesn’t fall their way in the first or second round where they have three selections, they could circle back with a trade for Thibodeaux if they’re interested in making a splash. With his size and stoutness against the run, Thibodeaux is a good fit for DC Dennis Allen’s scheme. The hope would be Allen can help him unlock more pass rush potential and give the Bears a viable bookend duo with Montez Sweat. 

Perhaps this is something that would make more sense during the season as the Bears evaluate Dayo Odeyingbo’s return to health or the development of Austin Booker. The Bears would need to create $14 million in cap space to take on Thibodeaux’s contract too, but they do have some deals they can restructure if it comes down to that. 

Green Bay Packers

The Packers’ need at edge rusher will depend on how quickly Micah Parsons can get back to top form from last year’s ACL tear (current reports suggest he might miss the first month of the season), and whether former first-rounder Lukas Van Ness has finally taken a step forward. While Green Bay has reason to believe its pass rush will be better in December than September, the overall situation there still remains concerning for a team that fancies itself a Super Bowl contender. 

Calling Thibodeaux the missing piece of the puzzle might be overstating it but there’s no doubt he’d make the Packers better. They’re a team that’s well aware of the compensatory pick formula, so whether they end up re-signing Thibodeaux or he walks, there’s a way for them to return value on the trade beyond just a one-year rental. 

While it takes a little game of “Six Degrees To Kevin Bacon” to find it, there is a connection on the Packers coaching staff to Thibodeaux worth mentioning. In 2021, there was a grad assistant at Oregon named Winston DeLattiboudere III who worked with the defensive line and Thibodeaux. In 2025, DeLattiboudere was the defensive line coach for the Cardinals and HC Jonathan Gannon. In 2026, DeLattiboudere will be the DL coach for Michigan State, but Gannon will be the Packers’ defensive coordinator. The Packers may not have a firsthand connection to Thibodeaux but they have an easy way to find out what they need to know.