Star defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence has requested a trade from the New York Giants, per a report from NFL insider Adam Schefter.
Lawrence, per the report, will not report to the Giants when the team’s offseason program begins on Tuesday.
A three-time Pro Bowler and two-time second-team All-Pro who is among the NFL’s most dominant interior defenders, Lawrence has experienced just one winning season and played in just two playoff games since being selected No. 17 by the Giants in the 2019 NFL Draft.
Lawrence had a down season in 2025, and at times seemed to be resigned to the situation.
Lawrence, 29, signed a four-year, $90 million extension in 2024 that put him among the league’s highest-paid defensive tackles. Two years later, though, Lawrence’s $22.5 million average per year is just 11th among defensive tackles.
The Giants added bonus money to Lawrence’s contract for the 2025 season, with Schefter indicating the contract situation is at the root of the issue. Schefter wrote:
Lawrence and the Giants have been through two off seasons attempting to negotiate a contract reflecting his value to the Giants over the last three years, but there has not been any progress, per sources.
Lawrence has been with the Giants through two general managers (Dave Gettleman and Joe Schoen), and has played for head coaches Pat Shurmur, Joe Judge, Brian Daboll, and Mike Kafka (interim). It appears he doesn’t want to stick around through another regime change.
Schoen indicated at the NFL Scouting Combine that the Giants were not planning to trade Lawrence.
“The plan is for Dexter to be on the roster,” Schoen said, while adding that the organization did plan to try and address Lawrence’s contract. “The expectation is to be on the team and come back and have a really good season for us.”
It appears that may not happen.
NFL Network insider Mike Garafolo reported that the Giants did receive trade inquiries about Lawrence at the 2025 NFL Trade Deadline.
New head coach John Harbaugh said recently that the Giants need to try to “build the best offensive line and the best defensive line in football.”
Harbaugh was asked at the Combine if he needed to assure Lawrence that he was wanted as a cornerstone going forward.
“I don’t think he needs that assurance. I don’t think it’s my job to assure him,” Harbaugh said at the time. “It’s like ‘let’s go to work together’. I mean, we’re both together for a reason. I look at it that way. That’s just the way I view the universe. There’s purpose. We’re Giants, he and I. God brought us together for this very time. So, what are we going to do with it. And I had that conversation with him. I feel like he feels that way. He’s excited. So, I really don’t have to tthink that way, because I already know we’re there.
“How important is he? Really important. He’s super, super important. He’s a cornerstone football player. Not really a cornerstone. He’s like the middle stone. He’s right in the middle. He’s a very big stone, and he’s a verty active, athletic stone. So we want him there. … We want him. We need him.”
On the defensive side, the Giants have already lost veteran tackles Rakeem Nunez-Roches and D.J. Davidson this offseason, while adding only journeyman Sam Roberts.
Harbaugh may now have to try to cobble together a defensive line without one of the league’s best players.
This conversation started over on ‘The Feed.’ So, if you also want to check that out, go for it.
