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It’s difficult to see Thibodeaux having much of a future in New York. The Giants signed Brian Burns to a long-term contract and just used the third pick on Abdul Carter, who posted massive pressure rates in his debut season. Thibodeaux will be an unrestricted free agent after the 2026 season. He’s coming off a 2.5-sack, 10-knockdown year, and was limited to 10 games because of a shoulder injury.
The Giants can afford Thibodeaux’s $14.8 million salary in 2026, but it’s probably not the ideal use of their cash. They could keep Thibodeaux and hope to land a compensatory pick in 2027, but they are likely to be active in free agency, which would make it more likely that Thibodeaux wouldn’t earn them a draft pick after leaving. Landing a guaranteed pick now and freeing up money to help address the offensive line and secondary might be a reasonable alternative for Giants GM Joe Schoen.
The Ravens, on the other hand, are thin on the edge. Mike Green had 3.5 sacks as a rookie, albeit with 14 knockdowns. No Ravens player had more than five sacks last season. Veterans Kyle Van Noy and Dre’Mont Jones are free agents. And former first-round pick Odafe Oweh, whom the Ravens traded at midseason, had 7.5 sacks on just 347 snaps after joining the Chargers.
Jesse Minter, who turned around Oweh, is now the head coach in Baltimore. And Minter might fancy his chances of getting more out of Thibodeaux, who came into the league with a top-five-pick toolbox and racked up 11.5 sacks in his second year with the Giants. The Ravens would be taking a targeted swing on a talented player in a contract year who just turned 25 in December. And though re-signing Tyler Linderbaum would leave the Ravens in a tight cap situation, either restructuring or redoing Lamar Jackson’s contract will free up a massive amount of space.