A vacuum insulating glass (IG) unit and/or a method of making the same is/are provided. In certain example embodiments, the edge seal includes at least one metal member located between the opposing substrates (e.g., glass substrates). The at least one metal member may be bonded to the glass substrate(s) via a bonding material such as solder glass, frit and/or the like. The provision of the at least one metal member in the edge seal, between and/or exterior the glass substrates, is advantageous in that this provides for a more flexible edge seal permitting more give and take during window flexing in different environmental conditions. The additional flexibility of the edge seal may reduce the amount of optical distortion caused by flexing of the window, and/or the likelihood of window breakage in certain environmental conditions.