{"id":898887,"date":"2026-05-23T07:57:30","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T07:57:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/898887\/"},"modified":"2026-05-23T07:57:30","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T07:57:30","slug":"andrew-thomas-wants-to-be-a-foundational-piece-of-giants-turnaround-unlike-former-teammate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/898887\/","title":{"rendered":"Andrew Thomas wants to be a foundational piece of Giants\u2019 turnaround unlike former teammate"},"content":{"rendered":"

The careers of Andrew Thomas and Dexter Lawrence<\/a> are the same in a lot of ways.<\/p>\n

Both were Giants\u2019 first-round draft picks who developed into Second-Team All-Pros. Both signed contract extensions \u2014 just 83 days apart. Both sacrifice their bodies in the trenches even though their individual dominance hasn\u2019t prevented a steady stream of losses and coaching changes.<\/p>\n

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

But that\u2019s where the similarities stop because Lawrence grew tired of rebuilding and requested a trade, ending six years as teammates with Thomas by landing with the Bengals<\/a>. Thomas, who has $82.1 million remaining on a contract through 2029, isn\u2019t following suit.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll I can do is control what I can control, and that\u2019s trying to be the best player and the best leader I can be,\u201d the 27-year-old left tackle said. \u201cIf I want this place to reach the goals we have set, I\u2019ve got to be a part of that, so that\u2019s what I\u2019m trying to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Head coach John Harbaugh considers Thomas a foundational piece \u2014 often citing him alongside quarterback Jaxson Dart<\/a> and a stable of pass-rushers as the roster pieces that made the Giants an attractive vacancy.<\/p>\n

\"New<\/p>\n

New York Giants offensive tackle Andrew Thomas (78) during football practice, Thursday, May 21, 2026, in East Rutherford, N.J. Noah K. Murray for NY Post<\/p>\n

\u201cHe called me when he first signed and we spoke about the offensive line and the identity of the offense that we want to have,\u201d Thomas said. \u201c[He said] it\u2019s to be dominant up front and I would be a big catalyst for that. I\u2019m excited for that pressure. I want to lead those guys and be a great, dominating unit.\u201d<\/p>\n

The phone call was a show of respect for Thomas, whose greatness often is overlooked around the league because of his long injury history and the Giants\u2019 dreadful records.<\/p>\n

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Thomas was a Pro Bowl snub last season after ranking top-three among NFL offensive tackles in fewest quick quarterback pressures allowed (three), fewest sacks allowed (one) and longest average time to pressure (3.9 seconds) over 13 games.<\/p>\n

Harbaugh, a Super Bowl winner with the 14th-most regular-season victories in NFL history, could be the head coach<\/a> who stops wasting Thomas\u2019 prime.<\/p>\n

\"NewNew York Giants quarterback Jameis Winston<\/a> (19), and New York Giants offensive tackle Andrew Thomas (78), react after Winston threw an interception in the end zone in the 4th quarter. Charles Wenzelberg \/ New York Post<\/p>\n

\u201cA true ball coach, so I was excited that he\u2019s going to come here and hopefully get things going in the right direction,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cThe respect that he demands, you can just tell by the way everybody reacts to him when they\u2019re speaking to him that he\u2019s been there before. There is a different confidence that he has that you can feel as a player.\u201d<\/p>\n

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With four starters returning from an offensive line ranked No. 9 last season by Pro Football Focus and the addition of rookie first-round right guard Francis Mauigoa<\/a>, the Giants have the makings of their best blocking since winning Super Bowl XLVI in 2011. Mauigoa already has impressed Thomas with his smarts as they learn a new offensive system together.<\/p>\n

\u201cContinuity is a huge thing for us up front,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cBut obviously doesn\u2019t matter what\u2019s on paper. You have to execute on the field, so that\u2019s what we\u2019re working for. Had a lot of reps together and we\u2019re going to continue to build on that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Thomas<\/p>\n

Thomas has $82.1 million remaining on a contract through 2029. Noah K. Murray for NY Post<\/p>\n

After carrying a heavier workload earlier in the week, Thomas participated in individual drills but was replaced by Marcus Mbow<\/a> for 11-on-11 periods during Thursday\u2019s practice. As is typically the case, Giants are taking the precaution of limiting his spring workload.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s not like an injury injury,\u201d Harbaugh said. \u201cHe doesn\u2019t need every rep anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thomas is dealing with a<\/a> \u201clingering\u201d shoulder injury that didn\u2019t require surgery and maintenance from the Lisfranc foot injury that cost him the final 11 games 2024 and first two of 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, what we care about is September,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cIt\u2019s definitely tough sometimes because I want to push it and I want to get better, but I\u2019m trying to trust the process to make sure I\u2019m ready to go when it counts. I think I\u2019m in a good place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thomas\u2019 place remains with the Giants \u2014 even if he is no longer staring across the line of scrimmage at Lawrence.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know what was going through his mind,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cObviously, he made a decision that was best for him and his family. I wish him the best \u2026 but we have to move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The careers of Andrew Thomas and Dexter Lawrence are the same in a lot of ways. Both were…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":898888,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2067],"tags":[8190,228,1489,3350,7,519,1801,13,2909,284,1917,56,2321,2469,6],"class_list":["post-898887","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-giants","tag-andrew-thomas","tag-bengals","tag-dexter-lawrence","tag-east-rutherford","tag-football","tag-giants","tag-jameis-winston","tag-jaxson-dart","tag-john-harbaugh","tag-marcus-mbow","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-giants","tag-newyork","tag-newyorkgiants","tag-nfl"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116622829079556325","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/898887","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=898887"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/898887\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/898888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=898887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=898887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=898887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}