The New York Giants were “never close” to trading fifth-year outside linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux during last weekend’s NFL draft, Adam Schefter says.
The rumors were flying, but that’s all they were. Rumors. There were no talks about moving the 2022 first round pick. It was just a social media froth-up.
The Giants even confirmed as much during head coach John Harbaugh and general manager Joe Schoen’s press conference after the first round of the draft last Thursday night.
“We keep all the good players as much as we can. Right? We love Kayvon,” Harbaugh said to Schoen after being asked about the rumors of the team wanting to move on from him.
“Yup,” Schoen concurred.
On Monday, on the Pat McAfee Show, Schefter put the situation to rest.
“They never came close to trading him during the draft,” said Schefter.
“They had a conversation with the Saints about a month ago. Uh, the talks never really went anywhere. And we were told— I think we put up an alert during the draft, even after the Giants took Arvell Reese— that the Giants had no intention of trading Keyvon Thibodeaux at that point in time.
“Now again, could something happen later this summer? Something always could happen. Just go back to Micah Parsons last year. But I can tell you that as of today, the Giants do not plan to nor intend to trade Kayvon Thibodeaux. The plan is to hold on to him. The plan is to keep him.
“There was a conversation with New Orleans over a month ago prior to the draft. The Saints over the weekend dealt for another pass rusher, Tyree Wilson, the former high first-round draft pick from the Las Vegas Raiders.
“That was the direction the Saints went, and the Giants are planning to have Thibodeaux be a part of their defense this season.”
Thibodeaux is in the final year of his rookie contract, playing on the $14.7 million fifth-year option. The fifth overall pick in the 2022 NFL draft out of Oregon has had a spotty first four years with the team, mainly due to some nagging injuries. He had 11.5 sacks in 2023.
This article originally appeared on Giants Wire: Schefter: Giants never came close to trading Kayvon Thibodeaux
Reporting by John Fennelly, Giants Wire / Giants Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
