Brian Burns now the undoubted face of Giants defense — with new challenge looming

It was a fitting collection of lines. One filled with some irony and some intentional underselling. John Harbaugh had just stepped to the podium to begin his press conference Monday, working through an opening statement about the Giants’ first day of camp back at their New Jersey facility, when Brian Burns — who’d just finished addressing reporters — shouted, “Yeah, Coach.” 

Harbaugh looked up. He cracked a smile when he saw the source behind the row of cameras. “He’s a good player,” Harbaugh said, pointing toward Burns. “… He’s a pretty good football player, huh? Not too bad. Not too shabby.” 

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The satire, of course, is that Burns — in the middle of a five-year, $141 million contract — gets paid to be more than a “pretty good football player.” He’s tasked with filling a Giants role beyond that of an outside linebacker who’s “not too bad.” His results have matched that, as he earned second-team All-Pro honors last year after erupting for a career-best 16 ½ sacks. And in 2026, with Dexter Lawrence gone and plenty of youth and new veterans entering Big Blue’s front-seven mix, Burns, as the Giants’ best and most accomplished player defensively, has become the anchor of their new system. 

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There’s a challenge that comes with that, with a year like 2025 altering any expectations. This season will be about the encore. Burns, already, has said on separate occasions that he wants to hit 20 sacks and wants to earn first-team honors. But, as Harbaugh said Monday, Burns is “that guy” now, and he’s about to get schemed against as such. 

“I just think he does so many things well, he’s gonna excel,” Harbaugh said. “Hopefully we’ll be able to free him up a little bit — some of our blitzes and things like that, but he’s gonna draw a lot of attention. They’re gonna be looking to block him. 

“… But he’s got Abdul [Carter] over there. He’s got [Kayvon Thibodeaux] over there. He’s got Arvell [Reese]. That should help him.” 

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Everything, though, will come back to Burns with the pass rush and Dennard Wilson’s new Giants system. Just as it all came back to Lawrence — traded to the Bengals in April — last year, as the burden of only collecting a half-sack after recording nine in 2024 followed him. Burns has reset his standard, and on a unit defined by a cornerback competition, talented youth and veteran newcomers, he’s the Giants’ constant. 

He’ll have help. Carter flashed his potential as a rookie last year with four sacks. Reese, the No. 5 overall pick in April’s draft, recorded 10 tackles for loss and 6 ½ sacks last year with Ohio State. Thibodeaux collected 11 ½ sacks in 2023. 

“I would just say knowing my job with all details included,” Burns said, when asked what about the new Giants system will allow him to thrive. “It’s a very interesting defense, a lot of moving parts. We got a lot of weapons that can do different things, so with all of us being on the same accord and, you know, really honing into the details, this defense is unbelievable.” 

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Ask Burns if he thinks the Giants have the chance to be a ferocious defense, and he’ll answer, “Yeah, of course,” as he did Monday. But the real tests will come once the regular season begins, when the Giants open up with the Cowboys and the Rams — the NFL’s top two offenses in terms of yards per game in 2025 — and are tasked with containing Dak Prescott and Matthew Stafford, respectively. The real test will come when the Giants defense, abysmal last year, might need to win games for Big Blue while the offense settles into a new system and Jaxson Dart attempts to continue emerging too. 

And Burns, now more than ever before, is at the heart of that.