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Giants sign Tremaine Edmunds to $36 million deal, lose Cor’Dale Flott to Titans
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- Giants sign Tremaine Edmunds to $36 million deal, lose Cor’Dale Flott to Titans
Tremaine Edmunds; Cor'Dale Flott
General manager Joe Schoen always says he wants to go into an NFL draft already able to play a game, meaning he did not want to have to go into the first round desperate to select a player needed to start immediately.
One of those spots that needed to be filled was inside linebacker, with the release of Bobby Okereke . The Giants on the first day of NFL free agency addressed this glaring hole on their defense, agreeing to terms with linebacker Tremaine Edmunds on a three-year contract worth $36 million, The Post confirmed.
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The addition of Edmunds came minutes after the Giants learned they lost cornerback Cor'Dale Flott to the Titans, creating a void in the defensive backfield. Flott joins wide receiver Wan'Dale Robinson and tight end Daniel Bellinger as former Giants draft picks to head to Tennessee with their former head coach, Brian Daboll , now the Titans offensive coordinator.
The Giants suspected and expected Robinson would land in Nashville, but they were fairly confident they could retain Flott. They thought they made a competitive offer — believed to be in the $12 million-a-year range — but the Titans came in at three years and $45 million to outbid the team that made Flott a third-round pick in the 2022 draft.
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Flott, at a lanky 6-foot-2 and only 175 pounds, is not the ideal physical specimen new head coach John Harbaugh wants filling his defense. Flott, though, does have cover skills and is an ascending player — his 2025 season was his best — and losing him means there is an opening at the starting outside cornerback spot opposite Paulson Adebo . There is no one on the roster to fill that hole, meaning it must be addressed in free agency or the upcoming draft.
The Giants signed Tremaine Edmunds Getty Images
At least the middle of the defense was fortified.
Edmunds in 2024 became the youngest player in NFL history with 100 career games played. He is a proven veteran who was released by the Bears last Friday to create $15 million in salary cap savings. Edmunds has a direct connection to Giants general manager Joe Schoen, who was the assistant GM in Buffalo when the Bills made Edmunds the 16th overall pick in the 2018 draft. He made two Pro Bowls in his four years with the Bills before leaving for Chicago in free agency on a four-year, $72 million deal.
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Edmunds, 27, has started 13 games in each of his eight years in the league. In 119 starts, he has 900 tackles and has surpassed 100 tackles every season. In 13 games in 2025, he had 112 tackles and four of his 14 career interceptions. He has great size, long arms and an ability to drop in coverage. With all those games played, though, he could be slowing down a bit.
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This signing is designed to have Edmunds move in as an immediate starter. The depth chart at inside linebacker was unappealing: Darius Muasau and Chris Board . The 6-foot-4, 251-pound Edmunds adds what new head coach John Harbaugh wants — size — at a position where upgrades were needed. The Giants last season were 31st in the NFL in run defense, allowing 145.3 rushing yards per game. Edmunds should help with that.
Cor'Dale Flott signed with the Titans. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
For those who want to project what might come down the road, a pairing of Edmunds and Ohio State's Sonny Styles — another long, athletic inside linebacker — would change the entire tenor of the Giants' defense. Styles put on a show at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis with his testing results and figures to be in play for the Giants with the No. 5 overall pick.
