Giants’ Brian Burns on trio with Kayvon Thibodeaux, Dexter Lawrence: Teams have to ‘pick their poison’

The Giants didn’t fare much better. They placed 29th with 34 sacks, but there’s certainly hope that combining these three players will spread a positive effect across New York’s pass rush as a whole. Having certified playmakers on both edges with a DT in the middle who can swallow blocks and break through them for pressure in equal measure means something is bound to give.

“He commands a lot,” Burns said of Lawrence. “I’m excited for it because I know they really have to key in on him, and also having somebody opposite of me, they’re pretty much going to have to pick their poison on who they’re going to key or slide to. With Dex demanding so much attention and Kayvon also demanding attention, it’s going to free us up a lot.”

Burns also told reporters he has been “learning the history” of the Giants, which includes a legacy of defensive excellence from Lawrence Taylor and the Big Blue Wrecking Crew to Michael Strahan leading the way later in the 1990s and 2000s. Lately, though, there’s been a dearth of pass-rushing production.

New York has produced just one top-10 sack season in the last decade — 2014.

That’s a big reason why the Giants made Burns their big-ticket addition this offseason and gave him a lucrative contract. Burns had been fighting for better pay and extra security for over a year with the Panthers, who preferred he play on his fifth-year option in 2023 rather than an extension and then balked again at a long-term commitment by franchise tagging him a couple days before shipping him out of town.

He didn’t expect the trade that provided him with both his long-awaited pay day and likely the finest support system of pass rushers he’s seen to date in his career.

“I was shocked,” Burns said. “It was a pleasant surprise, but I was excited for the change.”

If he can reward the Giants’ faith by helping get Big Blue’s crew back to its wrecking ways, perhaps New York can deliver another surprise by turning things around in 2024.