Brian Burns now the undoubted face of Giants defense with new challenge looming

It was a fitting collection of lines.One filled with some irony and some intentional underselling.

John Harbaugh had just stepped to the podium to begin his press conference Monday, working through an opening statement about the Giants’ first day of camp back at their New Jersey facility, when Brian Burns — who’d just finished addressing reporters — shouted, “Yeah, Coach.” Harbaugh looked up.He cracked a smile when he saw the source behind the row of cameras.

“He’s a good player,” Harbaugh said, pointing toward Burns.“… He’s a pretty good football player, huh? Not too bad.

Not too shabby.”  Get texts from Paul Schwartz with all the latest Giants news and insights, exclusive to Sports+ subscribers.The satire, of course, is that Burns — in the middle of a five-year, $141 million contract — gets paid to be more than a “pretty good football player.” He’s tasked with filling a Giants role beyond that of an outside linebacker who’s “not too bad.” His results have matched that, as he earned second-team All-Pro honors last year after erupting for a career-best 16 ½ sacks.

And in 2026, with Dexter Lawrence gone and plenty of youth and new veterans entering Big Blue’s front-seven mix, Burns, as the Giants’ best and most accomplished player defensively, has become the anchor of their new system. There’s a challenge that comes with that, with a year like 2025 altering any expectations.This season will be about the encore.

Burns, already, has said on separate occasions that he wants to hit 20 sacks and wants to earn first-team honors.But, as Harbaugh said Monday, Burns is “that guy” now, and he’s about to get schemed against as such. “I just think he does so many things well, he’s gonna excel,” Harbaugh said.

“Hopefully we’ll be able to free him up a little bit — some of our blitzes and things like that, but he’s gonna draw a lot of attention.They’re gonna be looking to block him. “… But he...