{"id":862766,"date":"2026-04-10T02:24:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T02:24:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/862766\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T02:24:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T02:24:20","slug":"how-saints-guard-david-edwards-could-neutralize-new-yorks-pass-rush","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/862766\/","title":{"rendered":"How Saints Guard David Edwards Could Neutralize New York\u2019s Pass Rush"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6m\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/giants\/onsi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">New York Giants<\/a> likely had eyes on some of the top free agent offensive linemen this offseason, and while it\u2019s unknown exactly who was on the list outside of Alijah Vera-Tucker, it would not be surprising if general manager Joe Schoen also looked at former Los Angeles Rams and Buffalo Bills guard David Edwards.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6p\">Edwards, who was with the Bills from 2023 through 2025 after playing four years for the Los Angeles Rams, ended up signing a four-year, $61 million deal with the New Orleans Saints to help bolster the offensive line in front of second-year quarterback Tyler Shough.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-3\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6s\">And it\u2019s Edwards, who is our pick for the most notable addition made by the Saints in free agency, who is likely to create headaches for the Giants.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-4\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6v\">Edwards <a href=\"https:\/\/premium.pff.com\/nfl\/positions\/2025\/REGPO\/offense-blocking?position=G&amp;minimum=80p\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">tied for tenth<\/a> among guards who played a minimum of 1,000 blocking snaps, but was <a href=\"https:\/\/premium.pff.com\/nfl\/positions\/2025\/REGPO\/offense-blocking?position=G&amp;minimum=80p\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">fifth in pass blocking<\/a> among that same 20-man group. He allowed 32 pressures, tying him for 11th most among that same sample size, which was more than the Giants&#8217; two starting guards last year, Jon Runyan (29, tied for ninth) and Greg Van Roten (26, third).<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-5\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6y\">That said, the Saints still added a solid piece to their human wall around Shough, one that the Giants will have to try to penetrate. Last year, the Saints&#8217; offensive line overall finished with the <a href=\"https:\/\/premium.pff.com\/nfl\/positions\/2025\/REGPO\/ol-pass-blocking-efficiency?position=G&amp;minimum=80p\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">eighth-lowest pass-blocking efficiency rating<\/a> (84.3) while allowing the ninth most quarterback pressures.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"75\">Edwards alone can help bolster the offensive line, particularly in pass protection, where, per NextGen Stats, he only gave up <a href=\"https:\/\/www.neworleanssaints.com\/news\/david-edwards-guard-saints-free-agency-2026-5-things-to-know#:~:text=Edwards%20adds%20a%20veteran%20presence,Radunz%20to%20two%2Dyear%20contract\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">four quick pressures<\/a> under 2.5 seconds.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"78\">The Giants&#8217; defense prides itself on not only getting those quick pressures but also converting them into sacks. When the two teams met in Week 5 of last season, the Giants, facing off against quarterback Spencer Rattler, managed<a href=\"https:\/\/premium.pff.com\/nfl\/games\/2025\/5\/new-york-giants\/defense-pass-rush\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> to record 14 pressures<\/a> (no sacks).<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-9\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7b\">Keeping Shough upright will definitely be a priority, as will opening holes for running back Travis Etienne, who signed as an unrestricted free agent from the Jacksonville Jaguars.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-10\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7e\">The Saints will be competing for a potential playoff spot this upcoming season, and it will be the Giants&#8217; duty to make sure they don&#8217;t get any closer to that goal when they play the Saints on the road. It won&#8217;t be easy if Edwards is anchoring the offensive line, but the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/giants\/onsi\/big-blue-plus\/giants-free-agency-what-they-got-right-and-what-they-missed-so-far-01km8qvtvq2t\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Giants will have to make sure their defensive line is on point<\/a> when playing the Saints.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-11\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7h\">Sign up for our<a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/giants\/onsi\/newsletter\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">\u00a0free newsletter<\/a>and follow us on<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/nygiantsmaven\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">\u00a0Facebook<\/a>and<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Patricia_Traina\" rel=\"nofollow\">\u00a0X<\/a>for the latest news, and<a href=\"https:\/\/form.jotform.com\/92567758130161\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">\u00a0send your mailbag questions<\/a>to us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The New York Giants likely had eyes on some of the top free agent offensive linemen this offseason,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":862767,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2067],"tags":[7,519,1917,56,2321,2469,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-862766","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-giants","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-giants","10":"tag-new-york","11":"tag-new-york-giants","12":"tag-newyork","13":"tag-newyorkgiants","14":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116378040828412754","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/862766","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=862766"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/862766\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/862767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=862766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=862766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=862766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}