Former NFL safety Devin McCourty says the Chicago Bears should pick up the phone and call the New York Giants about trading for edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux, after Chicago’s defense allowed 59 points in a road win over the Panthers on Sunday.
The Bears beat Carolina 59-37, but the lopsided scoreline exposed how little resistance their defense offered. Bryce Young, who is not regarded as a franchise quarterback, threw for 361 yards and helped Carolina to 478 total yards against Chicago.
McCourty raised the idea Tuesday on “Up & Adams.”
“If you’re going to score a lot of points, then it comes down to your pass defense and your pass defense is impacted by your pass rushers or your cover guys. To me, I know everybody in New York is excited — you might want to call down to the Giants. ‘Hey, I know you got Abdul Carter, you got Brian Burns, what you thinking about with (Kayvon) Thibodeaux? Are you planning on extending him?’ Maybe that’s a call they make, you add a pass rusher.”
Thibodeaux, 25, is in the final year of his contract and currently ranks as New York’s No. 3 pass rusher behind Carter and Burns. In the Giants’ 28-20 home win over the Cowboys on “Sunday Night Football” — John Harbaugh’s debut as head coach — Thibodeaux played just 27 defensive snaps, 47 percent of the team’s total, while Carter and Burns played 91 and 84 percent, respectively.
The comparison McCourty and others are drawing is to the Bears’ 2022 trade for Montez Sweat, when Chicago acquired the pass rusher from the Commanders ahead of his free agency to reinforce its front. A Thibodeaux deal would follow the same logic — get ahead of the offseason by trading for him now and negotiating an extension before he hits the open market.
There are real obstacles. The Giants would be giving up pass-rush depth after a single game, likely for a modest return, and Chicago has no obvious player to offer in a swap. Trading Thibodeaux away for a pick could also cut against the good feeling in New York following the upset of Dallas in Harbaugh’s first game.
Still, McCourty floated a scenario where the Giants send Thibodeaux to Chicago for a draft pick that New York could then use to pursue disgruntled Steelers cornerback Joey Porter Jr., since the Giants need cornerback depth.
“To me, it’s very hard to find good secondary play off the street and a lot of teams, they’re not going to just trade away defensive backs that they like. I think the Giants they might be in the area where you have a surplus and they feel like, ‘Hey, we might be able to give away a guy if you give us something we like.’ So, maybe they call the Giants and go that route.”
The NFL trade deadline falls on Nov. 10, after Week 10, giving both the Bears and Giants time to assess their rosters and needs before any deal would need to be made.
