Dexter Lawrence wanted out. And he’s getting his wish.
NFL Network reports that the Giants are trading the defensive tackle to the Bengals for the 10th overall pick in the 2026 draft. PFT has confirmed that the deal is in place.
Via Jordan Raanan of ESPN, the deal is subject to Lawrence passing a physical. Which means it won’t be final until he passes. That wrinkle needs to be resolved by Thursday, obviously.
The next question is whether the Bengals will address Lawrence’s contract on the way in. Our understanding is that it hasn’t happened yet, but that something is expected to occur sooner than later.
Lawrence was the 17th overall pick in the 2019 draft. Signed through 2027, Lawrence was due to earn $20 million in 2026.
He had been trying to get a new deal from the Giants, given the changes to the market for interior defensive linemen. Twelve days ago, Lawrence went public with his request for a trade.
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Giants defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence wants out. The Giants aren’t giving up yet.
As reported by Paul Schwartz of the New York Post, via SB Nation, the powers-that-be want to keep Lawrence in New York.
“We are working together to get the best outcome for the Giants team,’’ coach John Harbaugh told Schwartz. “We also respect Dexter fully as a person and player and want him to be happy. We are doing everything we can, as best we can, as responsibly as we can.”
Schwartz writes that the Giants are “willing to give [Lawrence] a significant financial upgrade” over the $20 million he’s due to make in 2026. Lawrence, however, “is dug in on what he wants.”
“Significant” is in the eye of the beholder. The Giants may think it’s “significant.” Lawrence apparently doesn’t believe it’s “significant” enough.
Per Schwartz, the Giants are willing to trade Lawrence. They want a first-round pick in the 2026 draft.
If that’s the way it goes, here’s how it should unfold. One, the Giants and Lawrence find a team that is willing to satisfy both the trade requirements and the contract expectations. Two, Lawrence quietly submits to a physical in the coming days. Three, the trade happens when the team acquiring Lawrence is on the clock in round one.
That’s the best way to position the Giants to acquire a first-round pick without getting leapfrogged by another team that may accurately predict the player the Giants would want in that spot. But it requires, above all else, extreme discretion by everyone involved.
Most teams have a clear starting quarterback, obvious contenders for the job, or (at a minimum) concepts of a plan for the position.
The Cardinals, by all appearances, have none of the above.
G.M. Monti Ossenfort made clear this week that the Cardinals don’t have a starter. And to the extent a competition will be unfolding during the offseason program, Jacoby Brissett won’t be there unless and until he gets a new contract.
The other in-house options, for now, are Gardner Minshew and Kedon Slovis.
Before free agency started, Jimmy Garoppolo was linked to Arizona. The Cardinals pivoted to Minshew when talks with Garoppolo broke down.
Garoppolo remains available. Aaron Rodgers is on the market, too. (It’s hard to imagine him having any interest in the team that is stuck in a division with the Seahawks, Rams, and 49ers.) Derek Carr has made noise about a possible unretirement, but he wants to play for a contender. The Cardinals can’t fairly be described with that label.
That leaves the draft. Unless the Cardinals trade up to No. 1 (which is highly unlikely at this point, but not impossible), the next best option is Ty Simpson. They could, in theory, trade down and take Simpson in a lower spot. And there could be a team that sufficiently covets running back Jeremiyah Love to try to leapfrog the Titans at No. 4.
Other available free-agent options with starting experience include Russell Wilson and Tyrod Taylor. Most of the others have signed contracts to be backups (Carson Wentz, Joe Flacco) and a bridge starter (Kirk Cousins, if/when the Raiders take Fernando Mendoza).
As the cliche-because-it’s-true saying goes, you’re either getting better or you’re getting worse. At quarterback, there’s no indication that the Cardinals are getting better at the most important position on the team. And there’s no sign they have a clear plan for doing so.
Maybe the overriding plan, if there is one, is to accept reality for 2026 and allow nature to take its course. The prize could be dibs on whoever the top quarterback is after the 2026 college football season.
The popular assumption is that it will be Arch Manning. As we’ve seen, however, the player who emerges as the consensus number one for the next year could be a player no one is even thinking about currently. It happened with Mendoza. It happened with Joe Burrow.
Beyond the six games to be played within the NFC West, the Cardinals will face the four teams of the AFC West (which produced two playoff teams in 2025 and still includes the Chiefs), the four teams of the NFC East, and the Lions (who finished last in the NFC North). That’s a recipe for earning the first overall pick in 2027.
Not having a clear plan at quarterback becomes a key ingredient in the stew of factors that could position Arizona for its next shot at a generational talent without having to try very hard to make that happen, once the 2026 season launches.
Ravens wide receiver Zay Flowers says he’s looking forward to a different approach to practices with new head coach Jesse Minter, who won’t break the team down the way Flowers says John Harbaugh did.
Flowers said on the 4th and South podcast that Harbaugh put the Ravens through contact practices as often as NFL rules allow, and that by the end of the season players were exhausted from the wear and tear on their bodies.
“Full pads all the time,” Flowers said. “However many practices in pads you can get, every single one. We’re doing one-on-ones in Week 17. Week 17, we’re doing one-on-ones, everybody out there, we’re tired, we’re still going.”
Asked how the players manage that workload, Flowers answered, “We don’t.”
“That’s why we had a lot of injuries,” Flowers continued. “Because of how we practiced, how we went. The load was heavy.”
Flowers said that in his first conversation with Minter, who was a Ravens assistant before Flowers was drafted, he asked for reassurance that the team would be more cognizant of taking care of players’ bodies.
“Yeah, I talked to the new coach,” Flowers said. “He worked with Harbaugh in 2017, so he knows how it was, how we worked with Harbaugh. So he says, ‘You’re going to get your work, but it’s going to be a little easier on your body. You’re going to be fresher for the game.’ That was the first talk I had with him: How’s practice going to look?”
Ravens players will be glad to hear Flowers’ comments. Giants players may be in for a rude awakening.
Not only have talks broken off between the Giants and Dexter Lawrence’s representation, but the defensive tackle wants out of New York.
Paul Schwartz of the New York Post reports that Lawrence’s trade request is not about money. Lawrence wants to move on from the Giants as the dispute has escalated beyond the contract.
Lawrence, who has two years remaining on his deal, has sought a raise over his annual average of $22.5 million since the 2025 offseason. The Giants added $3 million in incentives to Lawrence’s deal a year ago, and he earned $18 million.
General Manager Joe Schoen addressed Lawrence’s situation during his pre-draft news conference earlier this week. Schoen characterized it as “good conversations” between the sides with hopes of working something out so that Lawrence will remain with the team.
Talks, though, have hit an impasse, and the Giants now are concentrating on the draft.
Lawrence is skipping the team’s offseason work.
Lawrence, 28, has made three Pro Bowls and totaled 30.5 sacks, five forced fumbles and an interception in his career since the Giants made him the 17th overall pick in 2019.
The NFL has announced the names of the current and former players that will take part in next week’s draft by announcing second-round picks.
The list includes players associated with all 32 teams, including Cardinals running back James Conner. Conner has strong ties to the Pittsburgh area after playing for the Steelers and attending Pitt, which likely made him an easy choice as the Cardinals’ representative.
Former Bears tackle Jimbo Covert, former Cowboys running back Tony Dorsett, former Chiefs defensive lineman Bill Maas, current Vikings tackle Brian O’Neill, former Jets running back Curtis Martin, and former 49ers punter Andy Lee are other Pitt alums who are set to take part.
The hometown team will be represented by four players. Former Steelers Jerome Bettis and John Stallworth will be joined by Joey Porter Sr. and Jr. next Friday.
The other players taking part and their team affiliations appear below:
Falcons: Michael Turner
Ravens: Mark Ingram
Bills: Shane Conlan
Panthers: Jake Delhomme
Bengals: Ken Anderson
Browns: Phil Dawson
Cowboys: Drew Pearson
Broncos: T.J. Ward
Lions: Calvin Johnson
Packers: John Kuhn
Texans: Billy Miller
Colts: Pat McAfee
Jaguars: Paul Posluszny
Raiders: Matt Millen
Chargers: Shawne Merriman
Rams: Tavon Austin
Dolphins: Dwight Stephenson
Patriots: Deion Branch
Saints: Marques Colston
Giants: Osi Umenyiora
Eagles: Brian Westbrook
Seahawks: Cliff Avril
Buccaneers: Ronde Barber
Titans: Jeffery Simmons
Commanders: Mark Rypien
Giants General Manager Joe Schoen is open to trading down from the fifth overall pick in the NFL draft. But not until he finds out if the player he wants will be available.
Schoen didn’t say which player he’s hoping to take at No. 5, but he did say that when teams call to talk about trading up, he makes clear to them that he’ll only do that when he’s on the clock next week, if his preferred player is no longer on the board.
“We’ve gotten a couple calls of teams sniffing around about potentially coming up, and we’ll just have to wait and see who’s there when we pick,” Schoen said. “I don’t really foresee us moving back before next Thursday night.”
Most projections have the Top 5 picks this year being Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza, Texas Tech edge rusher David Bailey, Ohio State edge rusher Arvell Reese, Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love and Ohio State linebacker Sonny Styles. At least one of those players is guaranteed to be there for Schoen. Or for some team looking to trade up.
Edge rusher Brian Burns was traded to the Giants in 2024 after failing to come to agreement with the Panthers on a long-term contract, so he’s familiar with the position that Dexter Lawrence finds himself in right now.
Lawrence requested a trade last week amid talks with the Giants about a new deal. General Manager Joe Schoen said at a press conference on Tuesday that those talks with the defensive tackle were progressing well, but that claim was followed by multiple reports that the conversations have hit an impasse and broken off.
Burns would like to see things pick back up because he has no interest in taking the field without Lawrence joining him on the Giants defense.
“Speaking for me, the Giants ain’t the Giants without No. 97 in the middle,” Burns said, via Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post. “So we are going to figure that out to keep him here regardless, I hope. That’s my boy. And I don’t want to play this season or any other season without him.”
Lawrence’s ability on the field is one part of the puzzle and Burns noted that he’s also “a huge locker-room presence” that the team has been missing in the first couple of weeks of their offseason work. Few would argue with Burns about Lawrence’s importance to the Giants, but it remains to be seen if the team’s agreement is strong enough to boost his contract with two years left on their current agreement.
Last night’s report from NFL Network that the Giants and defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence have reached an “impasse” in their talks sparked a spirited discussion on PFT Live regarding whether it’s truly an “impasse” (and what “impasse” means).
It reportedly is.
Via Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News, talks between the Giants and Lawrence have “broken off.”
We’ve confirmed the report (not that it needed confirmation). Talks have ended.
So what’s next? There are two needles to thread, as a practical matter, for a trade to happen. First, a new team must make the Giants a trade offer they won’t refuse. Second, a new team must make Lawrence a contract offer he will accept.
Ideally, the Giants would make the deal when the highest 2026 draft pick they’d be acquiring is on the clock. That allows them to get the guy they want without worrying about being leapfrogged by another team.
To make that happen, the new team would need to have an understanding in place with Lawrence’s camp as to what it takes to make Lawrence happy.
For now, the Giants have been handling the trade talks. If/when the Giants give Lawrence permission to do it himself (that hasn’t happened yet, but it could), it becomes easier to get both the Giants and Lawrence satisfied before a deal is done.
Discretion will become critical, if the Giants hope to inherit the new team’s highest 2026 pick when it’s on the clock. It’s something that could become very quiet until it becomes very loud, during the window that the pick is on the clock.
Through it all, it’s also possible that the talks could resume. For that to happen, however, someone will need to blink as it relates to their positions at the time the talks broke.
The Giants don’t know exactly who will be available when they make their first selection in the draft next week, but they can be pretty sure where multiple prospects played their college ball.
Edge rusher Arvell Reese, linebacker Sonny Styles and safety Caleb Downs were all teammates at Ohio State before moving on to become three of the top players in this year’s draft class. Reese is usually projected to be selected before the Giants are on the clock at No. 5, but Styles and Downs are frequently mentioned as options for the NFC East club.
There have been discussions about whether there’s enough positional value for either player to be picked that early, but the Giants have not seemed opposed and General Manager Joe Schoen certainly did not take anything off the table during a Tuesday press conference.
“That wouldn’t be out of the question,” Schoen said, via the team’s website. “Those are really good football players. Those are the conversations we’re having right now. Hey, we like all these guys, but you’ve got to pick one and a couple of them are going to be there. We’re working on stacking that right now. But you speak of Sonny Styles and Caleb Downs, talk about talented defense; we’ve watched a lot of Ohio State defensive film the last couple of months. A lot of good football players from top to bottom on that defense. Those are two of the key players on that defense that we looked at. Certainly guys that we’ve talked a lot about and think very highly of.”
Schoen also discussed running back Jeremiyah Love on Tuesday and there have been similar conversations about the wisdom of taking a running back at that point. That could leave Schoen and the Giants with a decision to make about which way they want to buck trends when it’s their turn in the first round.
