Not that long ago, some media and fans would gnash their teeth and/or clutch their pearls at the notion that NFL players were acquiring the kind of power NBA players have.
Don’t look now, but NFL players are slowly but surely getting there.
The recent Dexter Lawrence trade from the Giants to the Bengals is the latest example of it. Lawrence, a “middle stone” player for the New York defense, wasn’t happy. He wanted out. He asked to be traded. Within two weeks, he was.
It’s a far cry from the days when the prevailing view among NFL teams was to not flinch when a player wasn’t happy. Instead, teams dug in. And some in the media (along with plenty of fans) would lead the cheers. “Honor your contract” was the mantra — even if NFL contracts are not true bilateral deals. The team can move on whenever it wants; the player cannot.
Now, maybe the players can get out. Because an unhappy player becomes a problem for the team.
The Giants knew Lawrence wasn’t happy. It wasn’t a sudden thing. They’ve been to the playoffs once in his career. They’ve gone 13-38 over the last three seasons.
Meanwhile, Lawrence had seen multiple former teammates go elsewhere and win — big. From Saquon Barkley to Leonard Williams to Julian Love, Lawrence has watched multiple teammates exit New York and win a Super Bowl ring with another team. (Hell, even failed Giants first-rounder Kadarius Toney won not one but two Super Bowls with the Chiefs.)
And so Lawrence wanted out. The Giants realized their choices were to deal with an unhappy player or flip his contract for a fresh start with a brand-new player who (at least for the first few years of his career) will be all in. Especially if the Giants choose wisely.
When former Steelers coach Mike Tomlin first uttered one of the best of his catch phrases — “we want volunteers, not hostages” — the sentiment had broad and potentially problematic application. If a player doesn’t want to be here, we don’t want him. That’s a blank check for a one-way ticket out of town, whenever the player wants to hop on that bus.
There was a time, not all that long ago, when the knee-jerk reaction to a player who tried to exit before his contract expired was to play hardball. To resist the player’s prerogative. To refrain from setting a “precedent” that others could be tempted to utilize.
The showdown between the Eagles and Terrell Owens from 2005 arose directly from the team’s refusal either to address his contract or to trade him to a new team after he had a stellar debut season in Philadelphia.
In the end, the Eagles “won” the battle of wills. But what did they really win? The 2005 season was undermined by the constant distractions that Owens created in an effort to get what he wanted.
Owens was, in hindsight, a trailblazer. He showed what can happen when a team chooses to stubbornly cling to a contract that applies unequal standards to the two parties. If the player isn’t playing well enough, the team cuts him. If he’s playing better than expected, too bad. You signed a contract.
The most encouraging fact is that Lawrence was able to get what he wanted without it becoming a bigger deal than it needed to be. To the point where the successful exercise of power by the player wasn’t even a major headline.
We want volunteers, not hostages. The teams that embrace this message are more likely to accumulate and maintain a locker room full of willing participants. They’ll be more likely to create an environment that will cause the best players to continue to be fully engaged.
It’s an important point to keep in mind during draft week, when all teams will emerge with a new class of de facto hostages who have been conditioned (or, more accurately, brainwashed) into thinking it’s an honor to be told where they’ll live and work, regardless of their preferences. From the moment they show up in the building for the first time, the challenge becomes getting them to want to stay for as long as the team considers them to be worthy of roster spots.
Ultimately, all players will leave. It’s always better, from the perspective of the employer, for the teams to be able to decide when it’s time to end the relationship. The best way to get there is to ensure that the players will want to stick around even after the team has decided that it’s in the organization’s best interests to move on.
Giants Clips
The World Cup is coming to multiple NFL stadiums. And the costs associated with getting to and from the venues will differ significantly among some of the cities.
In New Jersey, the cost for a return rail trip from MetLife Stadium to Penn Station in New York after one of the various World Cup matches will be $150. The trip usually costs $12.90.
In Philadelphia, the local host committee has secured free travel for fans leaving World Cup matches via the city’s transit system.
FIFA has complained about the New Jersey plan. “The NJ Transit current pricing model will have a chilling effect,” FIFA said in a statement. “Elevated fares inevitably push fans toward alternative transportation options. This increases concerns of congestion, late arrivals, and creates broader ripple effects that ultimately diminish the economic benefit and lasting legacy the entire region stands to gain from hosting the World Cup.”
In Boston, round-trip bus services to and from Gillette Stadium for World Cup matches will cost $95.
The numbers in New Jersey and Massachusetts are stunning, but that’s what happens when big events come to town. FIFA be damned.
At this point, it’s too late for FIFA to do anything about it. Other than to give a made-up award to Philly.
They can call it the FIFA price prize.
Wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. and the Giants may be on the verge of a reunion.
Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post reports that Beckham is at the team’s facility for a physical on Monday. NFL Media reports that he also worked out for the team. It’s unclear if those are precursors to Beckham signing a contract to return to his first NFL team, but they feel like steps toward that end.
Beckham met with Giants head coach John Harbaugh at the league meetings in Arizona last month. Beckham played for the Ravens in 2023, so a deal bringing him back to the Giants would also create a second chance for him to play for Harbaugh.
The Giants drafted Beckham 12th overall in 2014 and played for the team before being traded to the Browns ahead of the 2019 season. He signed with the Rams after being waived during the 2021 season and tore his ACL while helping the Rams to a Super Bowl win. He joined the Ravens after sitting out in 2022 and had nine catches in nine games for the Dolphins in 2024.
The Bengals hadn’t traded away a first-round pick since 1989. And for good reason.
First-round picks become premium incoming players who are, regardless of their eventual NFL abilities, young and cheap. That became particularly true in 2011, with a new labor deal that restricted the contracts available at the top of the draft.
So why would the Bengals give up the tenth pick in the draft for an aging, expensive player? Last year, the tenth overall pick (Bears tight end Colston Loveland) signed a four-year, $26.36 million deal. The Bengals will be paying Lawrence $22 million in 2026 alone. In 2027, he’ll get $25 million.
V.P. of player personnel Duke Tobin nevertheless called the opportunity to acquire Lawrence for the tenth overall pick “too good to pass up.” That perception comes from the reality that the Bengals desperately need to improve their run defense — especially with quarterback Joe Burrow becoming increasingly impatient about the lingering flaws on the roster.
The Bengals aren’t far from being good enough to make the playoffs. In their division, the other three teams have new coaches for 2026. And if the Bengals can get to the postseason, they can win. Burrow becomes even better in a single-elimination setting.
The run defense last year was as bad as it could have been. The Bengals surrendered 147.1 rushing yards per game in 2025. That was the highest average in the league. The Bengals also allowed 5.22 yards per carry. That was the second-highest per-play rate.
That said, the Giants (with Lawrence starting all 17 games) allowed 145.3 rushing yards per game. That was the second-highest average in the league, behind only the Bengals. And the Giants allowed 5.31 rushing yards per attempt — the worst in the league.
Regardless, the Bengals needed to do something to beef up the middle of the defense. They have that now in Lawrence, who presumably will be happier and more motivated in 2026. Whether he’ll do enough to help get the defense off the field and allow Burrow and company to move the chains and score the points remains to be seen.
The Giants traded defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence to the Bengals over the weekend, but a report on Monday indicates that they aren’t expected to ship out another veteran defender ahead of the draft.
Edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux’s name has come up in trade chatter several times over the last couple of years. Head coach John Harbaugh said earlier this month that he’s thinking about getting Thibodeaux “plugged into our defense and getting him rolling” rather than trading him, but he also said that he expected to have Lawrence on the roster this fall so the more significant comment from the coach may have been when he noted that everyone is tradable.
At the moment, though, it looks like Thibodeaux is staying put. Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that a trade involving Thibodeaux is considered less likely in the wake of moving Lawrence for the 10th overall pick in the draft.
Thibodeaux is headed into the final year of his contract, which joined the presence of Brian Burns and Abdul Carter as reasons to think the Giants would entertain trade offers. Their position could change down the road, but it looks like the Lawrence deal will be the team’s big news of the week on the trade front.
If the Giants plan to use the Bengals’ first-round pick, it would have been better to acquire the selection in exchange for defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence when the pick was on the clock. That prevents a team like, say, the Cowboys at No. 12, from trading up and guessing right as to the guy the Giants were waiting to pick.
But there’s one sound reason for having the tenth overall pick in hand as draft week begins. The Giants now have the ammunition to package the 10th and fifth picks together in an effort to move higher in round one.
Obviously, they won’t be trying to go all the way to No. 1, since the Giants have their quarterback. No. 2 becomes a possibility, as does No. 3.
That’s not to say any deal would be as simple as, for instance, No. 5 and No. 10 for No. 2 or No. 3. The Giants likely would get more in return than an increase by two or three spots. Still, having the ability to give a team two top-10 picks in return for one becomes a valuable enticement.
Either way, everyone knows the Giants now have two picks in the top 10. It’s possible that those picks could become the starting point for inching higher in the draft order.
Why does Cowboys owner and G.M. Jerry Jones prefer to bypass agents and negotiate directly with players? Because it works.
For that reason, the agents representing former Giants defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence successfully prevented new coach John Harbaugh from speaking directly to Lawrence after Lawrence requested a trade.
Paul Schwartz of the New York Post reports that agent Joel Segal prevented Harbaugh from speaking directly to Lawrence. It’s smart; Harbaugh and his who’s-got-it-better-than-us? personality could have weakened Lawrence’s will.
Schwartz also reports that Segal didn’t want to deal with G.M. Joe Schoen. Instead, Segal reportedly negotiated with senior V.P. of football administration and strategy Dawn Aponte and senior player personnel director Chris Mara, with Schoen still involved in the situation.
The good news for Schoen is that it’s harder to blame him for the outcome. The bad news for Schoen is that, with Harbaugh taking control of the team (Aponte, for example, reports to Harbaugh), there will be a perception that Schoen has become further isolated.
The handwriting has seemingly been on the wall since Harbaugh was hired. He secured a direct line of reporting to ownership, turning decades of internal protocol on its head. The fact that Aponte, who has front-office duties, reports to Harbaugh and not Schoen has bolstered the perception that Schoen’s influence is diminishing.
Some will wonder whether this means a G.M. change is coming. While teams often change General Managers after the season, the more natural timeline for a front-office overhaul comes after the draft, when the reset button is essentially pressed on a year’s worth of scouting to come.
However it plays out, body language experts will have a field day with the coming images from the team’s draft room on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.
The Bengals traded the 10th overall pick to the Giants for Dexter Lawrence and then signed the defensive tackle to a one-year, $28 million extension.
The Bengals are happy, and Lawrence is happy.
“I know they gave up a lot for me, and I appreciate that. I don’t take that for granted. I have a fire in me,” Lawrence, who is under contract through 2028, told Geoff Hobson of the team website. “I picked up a little turf on the field. I got chills when I went out there. I just see myself helping this team be where it’s supposed to be. . . . I enjoy pressure. I enjoy being under that type of light. I write down notes, and my notes are, ‘Let my light shine all the time.’ And keep joy. Don’t let anything steal your joy.”
There is joy in Cincinnati, too.
Coach Zac Taylor said he has received calls and texts from players — including Orlando Brown Jr. and Ted Karras — since news of the trade broke Saturday night.
“Which is a sign there’s a lot of excitement,” Taylor told the team website. “I fielded a lot of calls from our offensive linemen. They’re happy they don’t have to face him in a real game again. Training camp should be fun.”
The deal is done. And the Bengals are happy about it.
Cincinnati has announced the trade that brings defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence from the Giants, in exchange for the tenth overall pick in the 2026 draft.
“The opportunity to add a player of Dexter’s ability was too good to pass up thanks to the commitment by Mr. Brown, Katie Blackburn, Troy Blackburn, Paul Brown, and our player personnel staff,” Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin said in a team-issued release. “Dexter fits the vision we have on our defense and will also elevate others around him. We are confident in Dexter and can’t wait to see the positive effects he and the other players we have acquired this offseason have on our football team. We are excited to turn to the draft and our remaining picks to further enhance our team.”
Coach Zac Taylor echoed Tobin’s enthusiasm.
“We are excited to add Dexter to our team,” Taylor said. “He has been a dominant player in the league since he was drafted, and he will be a tremendous presence on the field and in our locker room.”
The Bengals also announced that Lawrence has been signed to a one-year extension, which puts him under contract through 2028.
Thirteen days ago, Giants defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence asked for a trade. He has now gotten one.
He also has gotten a raise, with a one-year, $28 million extension. Given the new-money analysis that agents and teams apply to the vast majority of contracts, Lawrence’s new-money average moves to $28 million.
Are there guarantees beyond the $10 million roster bonus he’ll receive right away? No. Will the Bengals cut Lawrence before his $11 million base salary for 2026 becomes guaranteed as a practical matter at the start of the regular season? Why would they? They gave up the 10th pick in the draft to get him.
Given the investment, it’s unlikely he’ll be cut before 2027, either. Yes, it could happen. If it does, the Bengals would be admitting that they gave up a top-ten pick for very limited return.
If they cut Lawrence after two years, he still will have made more money over the next two seasons than the Giants would have been paying him. Under the prior deal, he would have gotten $39.5 million. Under the new deal, Lawrence is in line to make $47 million.
Here’s the real question. Would the Giants have given Lawrence the same deal he’s getting from the Bengals? No one knows the answer, because details regarding the negotiations haven’t been leaked.
At this point, it doesn’t matter. The Giants swapped the ability to keep Lawrence for the 10th pick in the draft. The Bengals have given up pick No. 10 for a three-year deal with Lawrence. Where it goes from here depends on how Lawrence performs — and what the Giants do with Cincinnati’s 2026 first-round pick.
