Trade: Giants send DT Dexter Lawrence to Bengals

[Mike FF Today]

Giants now have 2 picks in the top 10 of the 2026 NFL Draft...

 

[Maximum Overkill]

The Giants fleeced The Bengals. 

[jrokh]

39 minutes ago, Maximum Overkill said:

The Giants fleeced The Bengals. 

I wouldn’t say fleeced, but I am surprised they got that much…

[LaChup]

AI says you guys are wrong. The 10th pick for this? Come on man.....he's near the top in the league, not just this year's draft. 

Key Rankings and Recognition (2024-2025):

Top DTs List (2025): Ranked No. 2 interior defender by PFF, behind only Chris Jones.

PFF Top 50 (2025): Listed as the No. 14 overall player in the league.

All-Pro: Voted 1st-team All-Pro at nose tackle by the NFLPA for the 2024 season.

Performance Metrics: Recorded an 89.9 PFF grade in 2024 (3rd highest among DTs) and was the only interior defender with 90.0+ grades in both pass rush and run defense over the previous three years. 

Synonyms/Contextual Descriptions:

Elite nose tackle

Top-tier interior defensive lineman

All-Pro defender 

Following his 2026 trade to Cincinnati, Lawrence is playing on a contract making him among the highest-paid at his position, per reports, solidifying his status as a premier defensive cornerstone.

[kilroy69]

On 4/19/2026 at 11:30 PM, LaChup said:

AI says you guys are wrong. The 10th pick for this? Come on man.....he's near the top in the league, not just this year's draft. 

Key Rankings and Recognition (2024-2025):

Top DTs List (2025): Ranked No. 2 interior defender by PFF, behind only Chris Jones.

PFF Top 50 (2025): Listed as the No. 14 overall player in the league.

All-Pro: Voted 1st-team All-Pro at nose tackle by the NFLPA for the 2024 season.

Performance Metrics: Recorded an 89.9 PFF grade in 2024 (3rd highest among DTs) and was the only interior defender with 90.0+ grades in both pass rush and run defense over the previous three years. 

Synonyms/Contextual Descriptions:

Elite nose tackle

Top-tier interior defensive lineman

All-Pro defender 

Following his 2026 trade to Cincinnati, Lawrence is playing on a contract making him among the highest-paid at his position, per reports, solidifying his status as a premier defensive cornerstone.

This. My only problem is that if they were going to do this why not keep hendrickson? Pay him and have bookends that could kill qbs

[shovelheadt]

Would love it if Kayden McDonald ends up sliding to them with the 10th pick tonight. Him, Dex and BJ Hill could be formidable. 

[jrokh]

1 hour ago, shovelheadt said:

Would love it if Kayden McDonald ends up sliding to them with the 10th pick tonight. Him, Dex and BJ Hill could be formidable. 

I would handicap that happening at a 5% chance.

[LaChup]

Now that the draft is over, it's good to see that the Giants were able to secure the fourth ranked OT in the draft in exchange for the second ranked interior defender in the NFL. 

2nd OT picked, depending on how you look at it. Not a bad trade for Cincy. 

[jrokh]

11 minutes ago, LaChup said:

Now that the draft is over, it's good to see that the Giants were able to secure the fourth ranked OT in the draft in exchange for the second ranked interior defender in the NFL. 

2nd OT picked, depending on how you look at it. Not a bad trade for Cincy. 

1st or 2nd ranked OL by just about everyone, but you already know that, nice try though… still a good trade for both teams…

[TBayXXXVII]

On 4/25/2026 at 8:31 PM, LaChup said:

Now that the draft is over, it's good to see that the Giants were able to secure the fourth ranked OT in the draft in exchange for the second ranked interior defender in the NFL. 

2nd OT picked, depending on how you look at it. Not a bad trade for Cincy. 

My guess is that the trade was about money.  Trading him resulted in a very small cap hit.  Dead money was just short of $14M while the cap savings was $13M.  The money aspect was probably from extension talks where maybe the two sides were way too far apart to make it work.  So, the Giants figured that for the $1M cost to the cap, they're better off with another top 10 draft pick.

Then there's this:

Quote

After a defensive lineman's seventh year in the NFL, his time is very, very short. Look at the huge drop-off in qualifying starters from year seven to year eight, and from year nine to year ten. The decline flattens for a while, as the best defensive linemen can stick around a very long time, but the quick development, long plateau and quick decline is obvious.

Lawrence is about to enter his 8th year.  Is https://www.pro-football-reference.com/'s "Approximate Value" the be-all-end-all stat?  No, but he went from a 13 in 2022 & 2023 to 9 in 2024, and 7 last year.  I get the drop in 2024, because of injuries, but noteworthy aspect is last year.  Did he need more time?  Did the team use him differently?  The way they used him, is that they way they expected to use him going forward?  If so, is the drop in performance worth the payday?  My guess is that they evaluted the team and thought he was a player they could move on from and not really see a negative return.

[Ray_T]

On 4/19/2026 at 6:40 PM, jrokh said:

I wouldn’t say fleeced, but I am surprised they got that much…

Id agree with this.  not a big stretch to say hes worth a first round pick.   but a top 10 pick feels a bit rich.

either way, good for the Giants.

[Ray_T]

9 minutes ago, TBayXXXVII said:

My guess is that the trade was about money.  Trading him resulted in a very small cap hit.  Dead money was just short of $14M while the cap savings was $13M.  The money aspect was probably from extension talks where maybe the two sides were way too far apart to make it work.  So, the Giants figured that for the $1M cost to the cap, they're better off with another top 10 draft pick.

Then there's this:

Lawrence is about to enter his 8th year.  Is https://www.pro-football-reference.com/'s "Approximate Value" the be-all-end-all stat?  No, but he went from a 13 in 2022 & 2023 to 9 in 2024, and 7 last year.  I get the drop in 2024, because of injuries, but noteworthy aspect is last year.  Did he need more time?  Did the team use him differently?  The way they used him, is that they way they expected to use him going forward?  If so, is the drop in performance worth the payday?  My guess is that they evaluted the team and thought he was a player they could move on from and not really see a negative return.

yes, for sure its about money. 

its also about the fact that defensive players dont have the same shelf life as offensive players.  they tend to have slightly shorter careers and New york just completed a rebuild (or is at the tail end of one)

so getting younger makes sense.

On 4/19/2026 at 9:30 PM, LaChup said:

AI says you guys are wrong. The 10th pick for this? Come on man.....he's near the top in the league, not just this year's draft

usually when you have to pay a player, the asking price goes down.   if hes on a rookie contract, this deal looks like a slam dunk, but hes not.

hes older and more expensive.    certainly the team getting him is at a different stage.  They are trying to win.   while I'd say they really need O line help more than they need help on the defense, but he is an impact player.   so both teams are getting what they want out of this.