Much like the Giants as a whole, Kayvon Thibodeaux endured a trying 2024 campaign.
Instead of building on an 11.5-sack sophomore season, he missed five games due to a wrist injury and finished with six fewer sacks amid a disappointing 3-14 year.
New York's win total has dipped in increments of three since Thibodeaux's rookie year, when the surprise Giants reached the playoffs at 9-7-1. The freefall sets up a critical period for team brass to turn things around and the pass rusher to get back on track.
"The best thing I can do for myself is just continue to climb that mountain," Thibodeaux said recently, via the New York Post's Paul Schwartz. "Definitely not disappointed, definitely not sad or anything like that. Just super energized and hungry for the continuous opportunities I'm blessed with, and hopefully I have enough clarity and understanding to maximize it."
One factor in Big Blue piecing together its turnaround involves Thibodeaux's future.
As a first-round pick from the 2022 NFL Draft, Thibodeaux is now eligible to have a fifth-year option picked up, which for him is projected at $16.5 million.
The Giants have until May 1 to exercise the option. A long-term extension or declining the option -- thereby thrusting Thibodeaux into a prove-it year -- are the other decisions available to New York.
Whatever comes, Thibodeaux remains happy to keep contributing for the team that drafted him.
"Super excited, man, love the Giants," he said. "Obviously, I hope I can continue to be here. The future's in their hands, obviously, but I'm super excited. I think I've put decent film out. I won't say it's my best, I won't say it's my worst. But I know the ceiling is a lot higher. Super excited for this year, regardless of what happens, I'm just going to keep putting my best foot forward and attacking that Gold Jacket and Super Bowl mentality."
While he's shown potential for developing into a week-in, week-out dominant force, he's yet to reach that ceiling.
And although eclipsing double-digit sacks in Year 2 suggested he might soon join the NFL's top-tier pass rushers, especially paired with Brian Burns this past season, that sack total was somewhat of a mirage.
Thibodeaux actually produced his worst pressure percentage (9.2) on his way to 11.5 sacks. He had a pressure rate of 12.2% his rookie year and 12.6% during his third, per Next Gen Stats. He also posted his worst PFF pass-rushing grade in 2023 (62.9), compared to 67.9 the year before and 72.0 the year after. His 42 pressures last season fell four shy of his '23 pace despite five fewer games.
So, despite the midseason injury and failing to get home to the quarterback with as much regularity, Thibodeaux actually continued to grow as a pass rusher three years in.
He's just yet to take a massive leap into another echelon: His aforementioned 2024 pressure percentage, a career best, was 53rd among defenders with at least 100 pass-rushing snaps; his pass-rush grade was 35th among edge rushers.
Projecting if he can will play a pivotal role in how the Giants handle his contract this offseason and beyond.
Thibodeaux, for his part, has always been confident in how high he'll elevate his game. Any naysayers aside, his future now resides in Giants general manager Joe Schoen's hands.
"The fans don't call the shots," he said. "Hopefully, the GM thinks I'm worth it."
