Giants Edge Rusher Abdul Carter Sets Lofty Career Goal, Wants To Be 'the Greatest Of All Time'

Giants edge rusher Abdul Carter had a solid first season as a pro, earning some votes for the Defensive Rookie of the Year award.

But Carter wants to take things a step further as he begins his second season, and he has very lofty goals for what he wants the rest of his career to look like, telling Ian O’Connor of The Athletic that he wants to be "the greatest of all time."

Carter, the No. 3 overall pick in last year’s draft, totaled 4.0 sacks, seven tackles for loss, and forced a pair of fumbles. There was a bit of a learning curve, though, as Carter didn’t record his first save until Dec. 1 against New England. That would start a four-game span where the rookie would notch all of his 4.0 sacks. 

"To be honest, everybody wants the sacks, so I’m not sitting here and saying I don’t care about them," Carter told The Athletic. "But sacks are a little bit overrated. Every time you rush, you’re not going to get a sack. It’s all about affecting the quarterback and affecting the guy who touches the ball every play. As long as I can keep doing that and nobody does it faster, I’ll keep that up and the sacks are going to come along with that."

The talent is certainly there for Carter, who had 23.5 tackles for loss and 12.0 sacks in his final season with Penn State. The NFL, of course, is an entirely different level of play, but Carter should continue to be the beneficiary of the other great pass-rushers around him. Brian Burns set a career high with 16.5 sacks last season, and Kayvon Thibodeaux is a fellow first-round pick who had 11.5 sacks in 2023, though he has been up and down during his Giants tenure.

With John Harbaugh taking over as head coach and Dennard Wilson in place as the new defensive coordinator, the early looks at the Giants' defensive line in their new 3-4 scheme have been promising, with Burns telling reporters on Thursday that the defense was "dominant" in their joint practice against the Miami Dolphins.

Carter will look to take a leap in Year 2, and if he does, perhaps he'll be able to continue to trend upwards to meet his own sky-high goal.