Despite missing the playoffs last season, the Kansas City Chiefs remain the top team where players, with a win-now mentality, want to play. The New York Giants, the NFC powerhouse, understands this and wants some of that talent on their roster as well.  So, before free agency, the Giants pushed for a veteran trade target. 

The interest wasn’t just for roster enhancements, though. The John Harbaugh-coached Giants needed reinforcements at the linebacker position, especially after releasing Bobby Okereke to improve the team’s finances. The decision created $9 million in cap savings, per The Athletic’s Dan Duggan. He had served as the defense’s signal-caller and one of its most consistent tacklers, creating a leadership and communication gap in the middle of the unit. Hence, at that time, Raanan had hinted at this deal while also naming the likes of fellow Chiefs star Nick Bolton and San Francisco 49ers’ Fred Warner as options. They also had interest in Chiefs’ Drue Tranquill, who shut down a deal to the Big Blue with intentions of contending with Kansas City. 

“The linebacker that the Giants actually were going to trade for, from the Kansas City Chiefs—it seemed to be before the start of free agency—was Drue Tranquill,” ESPN’s Jordan Raanan said on the Breaking Big Blue podcast. “He ended up staying in Kansas City, taking a pay cut to stay. Seems to be something he wanted to do. He didn’t want to leave there.

“The Giants definitely did try to trade for a linebacker, I heard,” Raanan added. “And the story I heard was that the linebacker didn’t really want to go, and the trade kind of broke apart. It’s a guy that’s getting towards the end of his career, and it just didn’t work out.”
So yes, Tranquill stayed despite the numbers not looking good for him.

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The linebacker agreed to a pay cut ahead of the 2026 season on his three-year, $19 million contract a couple of years ago. In 2025, Tranquill appeared in all 17 games for the Chiefs and tallied 103 total tackles, 10 tackles for loss, two sacks, one pass defense, one forced fumble, and a recovery. This decision lowered his salary from $6 million to $3.5 million, with hopes of adding another Super Bowl ring with Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes after the Lombardi Trophy win in 2023.

He also stepped into defensive signal-calling responsibilities at times in Steve Spagnuolo’s system when injuries affected Kansas City’s linebacker rotation, which made him a particularly logical veteran target for a Giants defense that had just moved on from its on-field communicator in Bobby Okereke.

After missing out on Tranquill, the Giants re-signed Micah McFadden on a one-year deal after losing him in the first week of last year, after he suffered a season-ending Lisfranc foot injury. Before this issue, McFadden made 28 starts in 30 games from 2023 to 2024 and established himself as a physical and reliable run defender with back-to-back 100-tackle seasons. His return helped stabilize depth at a position that had quietly become one of the thinnest groups on the roster entering the offseason.

Similarly, the Big Blue also agreed to a three-year, $36 million contract with veteran linebacker Tremaine Edmunds, including $23.7 million guaranteed after the Chicago Bears released him this offseason. The 27-year-old has recorded 900 total tackles, 14 interceptions, 59 passes defensed, 24 quarterback hits, 8.5 sacks, four forced fumbles, and two fumble recoveries in 119 starts in the league.

Edmunds also brings eight straight seasons with at least 100 tackles and prior familiarity with general manager Joe Schoen from their time together in Buffalo, strengthening the expectation that he can step directly into a leadership role in the middle of the defense.

The urgency behind those moves followed a season in which New York’s run defense ranked near the bottom of the league and allowed over five yards per carry, making inside linebacker one of the clearest priority areas to address this offseason.

While the Giants have found key replacements for Bobby Okereke in McFadden and Edmunds, a star-studded middle linebacker has reportedly impressed the New York front office.

Giants eyeing Ohio State linebacker at 5th overall pick: Report

The New York Giants were left impressed by Ohio State linebacker Sonny Styles after delivering one of the most impressive Combine performances in Indianapolis. Styles recorded a 4.46-second 40-yard dash, the fastest among this year’s edge and linebacker groups. He also completed a vertical jump of 43 1/2 inches along with a broad jump of 11 feet, 3 inches. After this incredible effort, NorthJersey.com Insider Art Stapleton revealed that Styles really “impressed” the Giants.

“Sources tell NorthJersey.com and The Record that the Ohio State star met with the Giants on Tuesday night and impressed,” Stapleton reported.

Given John Harbaugh’s preference for physical linebackers, Sonny Styles is an ideal choice for the Giants’ defense. Styles, standing 6-foot-5 and weighing 244 pounds, boasted an impressive 2.2% missed tackle rate this season, not missing a single tackle until the final game. A former safety earlier in his college career, Styles’ range and coverage flexibility would offer the Giants a different type of second-level defender alongside Edmunds, potentially giving the defense both a long-term centerpiece and alignment versatility across sub-packages.

With Sonny Styles emerging as a possible top draft pick and the signings of Micah McFadden and Tremaine Edmunds, the New York Giants look set at the linebacker position for the 2026 season despite missing out on the Chiefs’ star.