As the 2026 NFL Draft approaches, NFL.com is keeping you up the date with the latest reports, rumors and rumblings from NFL Network, ESPN and team officials. Here's what we're learning Monday ahead of Thursday's first round.
Giants less likely to deal pass rusher
Kayvon Thibodeaux was the subject of trade chatter this offseason. After Saturday's trade of Giants defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence to Cincinnati, consider that chatter muted.
New York is now considered less likely to deal the former first-round pick, and Thibodeaux is set to play out the 2026 season on his $14.751 million fifth-year option, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Monday, per sources.
Teams had recently talked to Big Blue about Thibodeaux, 25, but as with Lawrence, it was going to take the right place for the Giants to deal him, NFL Network Insider Mike Garafolo added.
Lawrence netted the Giants their second pick in the top 10 of the 2026 NFL Draft.
Thibodeaux, the No. 5 pick of the 2022 draft, has started 53 of a possible 68 regular-season games for New York. He is coming off a career-worst 2.5 sacks in 10 games played in 2025.
Giants brass had expressed confidence in Thibodeaux amid the trade chatter. GM Joe Schoen said at NFL Scouting Combine in February that he expected "big things" from the pass rusher in his fifth season. While coach John Harbaugh said in reference to Thibodeaux that "everybody's tradeable," the first-year coach added he was "fired up" to coach him.
"He looks great, he's in great shape," Harbaugh said earlier this month. "I'm thinking about him on the field, getting him plugged into our defense and getting him rolling."
-- Jeremy Bergman
Medical update for top QB prospect
Garrett Nussmeier, who is projected to be a Day 2 or 3 pick in this week's 2026 NFL Draft, has some clarity on a health issue that affected his 2025 season.
The former LSU signal-caller underwent tests at the NFL combine that revealed a cyst on his spine -- the root cause of persistent oblique pain last year, NFL Network Insider Tom Pelissero reported on Monday, per sources.
The cyst was pressing on a nerve, causing discomfort in Nussmeier's oblique. He has been asymptomatic since just prior to January's Senior Bowl and all throughout the draft process; if that changes down the road, Nussmeier could undergo a minimally invasive procedure and miss just 2-3 weeks while stitches heal, Pelissero reported.
The good news for Nussmeier is that the cyst and potential surgery present no short- or long-term risk, per Pelissero.
Nussmeier ranked fifth in FBS in 2025 with 4,052 passing yards but threw for just 1,927 yards and 12 touchdowns in nine starts last season.
He ranks as QB4 on NFL.com's Bucky Brooks' prospect by position rankings.
-- Jeremy Bergman
Love a top-three pick?
Could a running back go in the top three on Thursday?
There is growing chatter in league circles that top RB prospect Jeremiyah Love is in play with the Cardinals at No. 3 overall, ESPN reported.
If Love were to be taken at No. 3, he would be the highest-drafted RB since Saquon Barkley in 2018 (No. 2 to the Giants).
The Cardinals would reportedly prefer to find a team willing to trade up to No. 3, and there have "exploratory" calls, ESPN reported.
But if Love, arguably the top overall prospect in the draft, is available at No. 3, which is likely with the Raiders expected to take Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza and the Jets leaning pass rusher, Arizona could surprise by taking the Notre Dame product.
-- Jeremy Bergman
