The Giants’ late-day splash on the opening day of NFL free agency was the sound you heard.

What was supposed to be a day more about who left the building turned into a powerful opening salvo from a group that is in dire need of support.

Giants general manager Joe Schoen made a dramatic trade with the Panthers to acquire edge rusher Brian Burns, then signed him to a $150 million, five-year contract, to solve one of those areas: strengthening the pass rush.

In return for Burns, the Giants awarded the Panthers a 2025 fifth-round pick and a 2024 second-round pick, ranked No. 39 overall.

The Giants still own the No. 6 overall pick in the draft that will take place next month, as well as one second-round selection (No. 47 overall, obtained from the Seahawks in exchange for Leonard Williams).

Additionally, the teams exchanged fifth-round draft selections in 2024; the Giants sent the Panthers No. 141 overall in return for No. 166 overall.

Following the Giants’ losses of Xavier McKinney to the Packers and Saquon Barkley to the Eagles, they received this news.

What does this indicate about the kind of team Schoen intends to put together? He does not think premium positions are worth investing a lot of money in, so he will not provide financial support to players at positions like running back and safety.

A cutter on the edge? There’s a place Schoen is willing to spend money.

An alternative way to look at this would be to compare Burns’ average year salary to the $27.5 million total APY that Barkley received from the Eagles and McKinney received from the Packers.

For the money the Giants would have had to pay to retain a running back and safety, they were able to acquire a young edge rusher.

This season, the Giants won’t blitz as much as they did during their previous two seasons under Wink Martindale.

The front group’s upfield pass rush will be prioritized more under new defensive coordinator Shane Bowen.
The combination of Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux, along with Dexter Lawence’s pressure up the middle, provides Bowen with the necessary firepower to operate his system.

In 2019, the Panthers selected Burns in the first round out of Florida State.

The Panthers this offseason placed the franchise tag on Burns, worth $24 million for the 2023 season, with the likelihood that they would try to deal him to avoid paying that money.

Any team trading for him would first have to get him signed to a long-term extension.

The Giants pulled it off, making Burns the second highest-paid defensive end in the league.

Burns is a quality and developing pass rusher.

He turns 26 on April 23 and in his first five NFL seasons has 46 sacks and two Pro Bowls on his résumé. He had eight sacks in 2023.

He has been remarkably durable, playing in 80 games and rarely coming off the field.

Since 2021, Burns has 28 sacks, 157 quarterback pressures and 33 quarterback hits, according to Pro Football Focus.

The guy who was chosen with the fifth overall pick in the 2022 draft, Thibodeaux, may have been the most delighted to see Burns enter the Giants’ locker room.

In his sophomore campaign, Thibodeaux made significant progress, accumulating a team-high 11.5 sacks—typically in the absence of a dependable pass rusher to offset his pass protection.

In the last year of his deal, Azeez Ojulari is back with the Giants, and he has a propensity for applying pressure on the opposing quarterback.

Additionally, the coaching staff realized it could not depend on him to be available because of his worrying number of injuries.

Ojulari can now participate in a rotation, which might aid in his continued health.