Brian Burns addresses Giants' 'vision' amid franchise's latest lost season

While New York Giants pass-rusher Brian Burns is having a successful season, he's part of a 2-12 team that may "earn" the No. 1 overall pick of the 2026 NFL Draft by finishing the campaign with the league's worst overall record. Additionally, the Giants may embrace a full organizational reset in January.

During a recent chat with Darryl Slater of NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, Burns acknowledged that the season "has been pretty challenging" amid all the losing. The 27-year-old also seems optimistic regarding what is to come for the Giants. 

Brian Burns "can see the vision" for the Giants

"For the most part, I can see the vision," Burns explained. "It’s not like we’re getting blown out every week. S---, if the game was just three quarters, our record would be flipped. Yeah, it’s been challenging. But it ain’t nothing I can’t withstand. There have been times I’ve been frustrated, but it doesn’t take nothing to snap back."

Burns was never part of a winning campaign as a member of the Carolina Panthers from the time they made him a first-round draft pick in 2019 up until he joined the Giants via a trade in March 2024. Big Blue finished last season at 3-14, and this year's edition of the Giants may struggle to earn one more win.

As Burns referenced, though, the 2025 Giants blew four double-digit leads in four road losses from Week 2 up until the club fired head coach Brian Daboll after it fell to 2-8. Thus, it's understandable that Burns is left wondering what could have been had some or all of those games gone differently. 

Brian Burns not fully enjoying successes this season

ESPN stats show that Burns' 13 sacks on the season have him behind only Cleveland Browns star Myles Garrett (21.5) in that category. While Burns said that he is pleased with his numbers because he worked to get to such a level, he also suggested he wants to be part of something bigger.

"At the end of the season, it’s still a failure, because we didn’t get to where we were supposed to get to," Burns added. 

Back in March 2024, the Giants signed Burns to a five-year, $141M contract. That said, it's unclear which players could be made available to other teams if the Giants fire general manager Joe Schoen in January.