There does not seem to be much of an appetite within the Giants to ante up big bucks to appease their disgruntled nose tackle.
Dexter Lawrence, halfway through a four-year, $90 million contract, wants a raise and, because of that financial dissatisfaction, has requested a trade.
That did not cause the Giants to scurry to the phone to play Let’s Make A Deal.
More likely, this will play out in the coming weeks leading up to the April 23 start of the NFL draft. The Giants at this point have no interest in parting ways with Lawrence and want him to play out their remaining two years on his contract.
Or, at the very least, they would like to see Lawrence rebound from an alarming dip in production in 2025 and again state his case as one of the league’s most disruptive interior defensive linemen before considering giving him a pay raise.
Could there be some sort of compromise? Sure. But if Lawrence, currently averaging $21.8 million per year, is looking to move into the range of the Eagles’ Jordan Davis and the Patriots’ Milton Williams (both at $26 million annually), at this point that appears unlikely to happen.
It feels as if a trade will happen only if the Giants are blown away with an offer.
The Giants were proactive and smart to get a deal done with Lawrence in May of 2023 at the start of his ascension, making him the NFL’s third highest-paid interior defensive lineman, behind only Aaron Donald and Jeffery Simmons, while equal to Daron Payne.
Lawrence then went out and dominated in 2024, posting a career-high nine sacks and eight tackles for loss in only 12 games, missing the final five games with a dislocated elbow. Lawrence wanted more money after that season and the Giants came up with an incentive package that could earn him an extra $3 million. He started all 17 games in 2025 and was paid $1 million in incentives.
Other than starting every game, Lawrence did not play up to his standard last season, at times appearing either out of shape — he was limited in the summer coming off his surgery — or incapable of escaping the clutches of the double-team blocks that still came his way.
Lawrence turns 29 in mid-November and the Giants could be concerned that their 340-pound team captain is wearing down or a shell of the player he was during his three consecutive Pro Bowl seasons.
The Giants also know Tuesday’s start of the offseason workout program is voluntary, and as much as they wanted a near full-house for new head coach John Harbaugh, veterans missing these workouts is often no big deal.
Lamar Jackson, Harbaugh’s quarterback with the Ravens, rarely attended these spring activities when Harbaugh was running the show in Baltimore.
The Giants also know that Lawrence would be fined $50,000 for every day of mandatory work he misses and that he has a $500,000 workout bonus that would be at risk if he stays away from the team facility.
Lawrence no doubt looks at this and sees he is the league’s 12th highest-paid interior defensive lineman and knows he is a better player than several of those ahead of him in that list.
The Giants can counter that he did not play at that heightened level in 2025 and that they finished 31st in the league in run defense with him starting every game. This situation could have twists and turns in the coming weeks and possibly months.
