{"id":889943,"date":"2026-05-13T08:09:28","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T08:09:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/889943\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T08:09:28","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T08:09:28","slug":"brian-burns-embracing-his-crazy-new-giants-reality-after-dexter-lawrence-trade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/889943\/","title":{"rendered":"Brian Burns embracing his \u2018crazy\u2019 new Giants reality after Dexter Lawrence trade"},"content":{"rendered":"

So, is this now Brian Burns<\/a>\u2019 defense?<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s how I\u2019m kinda looking at it,\u2019\u2019 Burns said Tuesday night. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of a nod to what I\u2019ve done and the success that I\u2019ve had, but I don\u2019t take that lightly at all, and I\u2019m very grateful for the opportunity.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

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The Giants defense no longer has Dexter Lawrence<\/a> anchoring the middle of the line, and that turn of events caused Burns a measure of consternation. Back on April 15, he told The Post, \u201cSpeaking for me, the Giants<\/a> ain\u2019t the Giants without No. 97 in the middle. That\u2019s my boy. I don\u2019t want to play this season or any other season without him.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Access the Giants like never before <\/p>\n

Get texts from Paul Schwartz with all the latest Giants news and insights, exclusive to Sports+ subscribers.<\/p>\n

tRY IT NOW <\/a><\/p>\n

Burns forced a smile when reminded of that comment. Five days after he said it, the Giants traded Lawrence to the Bengals<\/a>. Burns will play this season without him.<\/p>\n

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\u201cMan, I\u2019ve been in this league long enough to understand \u2018next man up\u2019 whenever somebody leaves,\u2019\u2019 Burns said. \u201cI was just really going to bat for my teammate.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe made a decision. It already happened. We kinda got to live with it. Of course I don\u2019t want to play without him because that\u2019s my friend, along with he\u2019s a great player, but we got some things out of it, and we just got to move on.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

The Giants received the No. 10 pick in the 2026 draft in the deal and selected offensive lineman Francis Mauigoa, who is expected to start at right guard.<\/p>\n

That transaction leaves Burns as the only team captain from 2025 on defense to return (Lawrence and Bobby Okereke<\/a> are gone), and after only two years in Giants blue, Burns is the longest-tenured starter on defense.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Giants\u2019 Brian Burns walks off the field after their loss against the Philadelphia Eagles<\/a> at Lincoln Financial Field, Sunday, Oct. 26, 2025 for the NY POST<\/p>\n

\u201cWow, I am,\u2019\u2019 Burns said. \u201cThat\u2019s crazy.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

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As proof of the respect Burns commands in the locker room, several Giants teammates \u2014 including quarterback Jaxson Dart<\/a> \u2014 showed up for him at the New York Hilton Midtown. Burns has not been around long, but he is ingrained in the Giants culture and community.\u00a0Burns was honored as the Giants\u2019 Hometown Hero at the 33rd Annual Gridiron Gala, a partnership between United Way of New York City and the Giants and Jets. This year\u2019s event shed light on the city\u2019s affordability crisis.<\/p>\n

Burns, 28, is coming off a huge season for the Giants, starting all 17 games (for the second straight year) and registering a career-high 16.5 sacks.\u00a0He also posted career highs in tackles for loss (22) and quarterback hits (31), often benefiting from the frequent double-team blocks Lawrence commanded at nose tackle.<\/p>\n

Lawrence is gone, but Arvell Reese is on the scene. The Giants used the No. 5 pick to add the imposing (6-foot-4, 241-pound) inside linebacker, and Burns is just getting to know the rookie.<\/p>\n

\"GiantsGiants defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence speaking to the media in front of his locker after practice at the New York Giants<\/a> training facility in East Rutherford, New Jersey Charles Wenzelberg \/ New York Post<\/p>\n

\u201cI got to see him in person, see his size, I really like his mentality,\u2019\u2019 Burns said. \u201cI really like what he said in the media, and I kinda know it\u2019s not fluff when he said he\u2019d rather be seen than heard. That speaks volumes as a rookie. I really appreciate that.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI will test his temperature the more I\u2019m around him. We haven\u2019t got the chance to talk too much. He does carry that kinda business-minded persona, so as a rookie, I feel that\u2019s important. He\u2019s trying to show the vets he\u2019s about his business, and he\u2019s gonna come in to work.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Burns has made a significant impact on and off the field in his two years with the Giants. His Brian Burns Family Charities is a philanthropic organization that operates through three foundations: Hype 4 Life (dedicated to raising awareness about autism spectrum disorder), the Big Brothers United Foundation (working to empower, uplift and nurture at-risk youth in underserved communities) and the Route #53 Dawg Rescue Foundation (committed to rescuing abused and neglected dogs and pairing them with loving homes).<\/p>\n

Burns and his mother, before the holidays last year, also visited Barack Obama Community School in Jersey City, and for the past two years, he helped the Giants celebrate 10 championship girls flag football teams from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI\u2019ve only been here two years. It\u2019s just to let people know, let people into what I\u2019m passionate about and let them understand I\u2019ve got a lot more coming,\u2019\u2019 Burns said. \u201cWherever I go, I want to touch the community in some type of way and make an impact somehow.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"So, is this now Brian Burns\u2019 defense? \u201cThat\u2019s how I\u2019m kinda looking at it,\u2019\u2019 Burns said Tuesday night.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":889944,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2067],"tags":[228,8347,1483,1489,7,519,13,1917,56,2321,2469,6,109,1799],"class_list":["post-889943","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-giants","tag-bengals","tag-bobby-okereke","tag-brian-burns","tag-dexter-lawrence","tag-football","tag-giants","tag-jaxson-dart","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-giants","tag-newyork","tag-newyorkgiants","tag-nfl","tag-philadelphia-eagles","tag-the-giants"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116566252861230832","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/889943","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=889943"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/889943\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/889944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=889943"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=889943"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=889943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}