NFL training camp starts towards the end of July, which means players around the league are getting their last bits of offseason work in before the real work of trying to make the roster begins.
For certain players, this season is what some may call “Make or Break,” meaning they need to put together a productive year or they could be looking for employment elsewhere at the end of the 2025-26 campaign.
We’ll highlight those players for the Giants, starting today with tackle Andrew Thomas.
2024 Stats
– Six games started
– Four sacks allowed
– Three penalties
Why Make or Break?
Thomas was the fourth overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft and soon established himself as one of the NFL’s most talented offensive tackles. He deservedly earned second-team all-pro recognition after the 2022 season, then signed a five-year extension in the offseason, which made him one of the league's highest-paid offensive linemen.
Unfortunately, things haven’t gone to plan for Thomas in the two seasons since he signed the big-money extension. He missed seven games with a hamstring injury in 2023 and then suffered a season-ending foot injury six games into the 2024 season.
The 26-year-old is about to enter his prime, but this season could determine whether he has a long-term future with New York or will be seeking a fresh start elsewhere.
What will break it?
First and foremost, Thomas needs to be able to stay on the field, for the Giants’ sake and his own. He’s been unavailable for more than half of the games since he signed his contract extension, and New York’s offense has generally floundered without him. Even if he avoids a serious injury, if Thomas is in and out of the lineup, that will make it difficult for the Giants to establish chemistry.
As things stand, it’s not even certain that Thomas will be ready in time for training camp, following offseason surgery for a season-ending Lisfranc injury. That may interfere with the efforts of the coaching staff to get the starting five as many reps together as they can. This will be imperative to help them gel as early as possible once the season gets underway.
Once he’s back, Thomas needs to prove he can be relied upon; otherwise, the Giants will start to consider whether his contract should be renegotiated ahead of the 2026 season.
What will make it?
No statistic underlines the importance of Thomas remaining healthy than a comparison between the Giants’ win-loss records when Thomas starts and when he is unavailable. New York is 15-16-1 in Tomas' 32 starts over the past three years, whereas they’ve won just three of the 19 games he missed. It may be an oversimplification to suggest that he’s the sole difference between Big Blue being a competitive team and a bad one, but if he can stay on the field, the Giants’ chances of staying in contention improve dramatically.
Having said that, even if Thomas starts and plays well, if the Giants are not competitive in 2025, then he becomes potential trade bait at the deadline as they will inevitably look to shed his contract and kick off another rebuild with draft compensation.
Such an outcome might even prove to be a positive thing for Thomas’ career. However, it will leave the Giants with a huge hole to fill on their offensive line, so the immediate hope is that he re-establishes himself as a key contributor on a competitive team.
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