The New York Giants made a massive splash this offseason by trading for outside linebacker Brian Burns from the Carolina Panthers. Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux should be a good outside linebacker duo this season. What also helps the New York Giants is that defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence is one of the best in the game.
The Giants’ defense should be better this season. Shane Bowen is the new defensive coordinator this season after New York decided to let go of Wink Martindale in the offseason. New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll loves Bowen’s defense because his defense was one of the best in the league at stopping the run and number one in red zone defense. Those both were major issues for the Giants’ defense a season ago.
Burns was on the trade market for quite sometime before the Giants could acquire him in a trade. The Carolina Panthers could have received two first-round picks for him from the Los Angeles Rams last season, but the Panthers did not accept the deal.
Had the New York Giants Not Traded For Brian Burns They Would Have Been After Defensive Tackle Christian Wilkins
If the Giants were not going to acquire Burns in a trade, they were going to be all-in on signing defensive tackle Christian Wilkins. Wilkins played with the Miami Dolphins before signing with the Las Vegas Raiders.
Christian Wilkins with the Miami Dolphins recorded 65 tackles, nine sacks, one forced fumble, two sacks, and two pass deflections last season. Wilkins was the 13th overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft out of Clemson by Miami.
He was teammates with New York Giants defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence in college at Clemson University. Having Christian Wilkins and Dexter Lawrence up front on the defensive line for New York would also have been very interesting.
During Hard Knocks, the New York Giants were talking about signing Christian Wilkins. Lawrence and Wilkins would have been reunited and it would have been an interesting duo up front.
However, having Brian Burns in this 3-4 scheme may feel like a better fit for the Giants. When the Giants acquired him, they gave Burns a new contract right away. The New York Giants hope the defense could be better this season. It would have been an interesting thought for this team to have Wilkins instead of Burns on the defensive side of the football.
