Giants Urged to Follow Jets’ Plan With Dexter Lawrence

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The New York Giants are urged to follow the New York Jets’ plan after All-Pro NT Dexter Lawrence put in a trade request.

If Dexter Lawrence II wants a trade, that’s more than okay with one observer of what the New York Giants do next. An observer who believes Big Blue should follow the plan adopted by cross-town rivals the New York Jets with their own star defensive tackle, Quinnen Williams, last November.

The Jets traded Williams to the Dallas Cowboys for a second-round pick in the 2026 NFL draft, a first in 2027, and veteran D-tackle Mazi Smith. That’s the kind of haul WFAN’s Shaun Morash believes represents “a potential opportunity for the Giants,” particularly when this draft class boasts a number of credible replacements for Lawrence.

Morash explained his thinking, and named the best possible replacement, when speaking to Evan Roberts and Giants all-time leading rusher Tiki Barber on Monday, April 6, the same day news broke of Lawrence putting in a trade request.

Giants Can’t Ignore Jets-Style Upside of Trading Dexter Lawrence

As Morash put it, “the Jets did pretty well for Quinnen Williams with that trade package, can’t we all agree? Yeah, beyond good. If the Giants could get a first-round pick-plus for Dexter Lawrence, and I look at the meat of this draft in the twenties, thirties, think about the type of team that would trade for Dexter Lawrence. There’s a lot of really good D-tackles in this draft. Kind of like Evan alluded to when ‘Sauce’ Gardner got traded and wanting to replace him with a corner. Man, I know there’s not that many Dexter Lawrences, I think I’m okay trading Dexter Lawrence if he gets that kind of package back, and then you’re immediately investing in one of these big D-tackles, like a Peter Woods, out of the draft, and kind of restarting that. ‘Cause you know what, man? Dexter Lawrence, you had every chance if you really wanted that contract to put it all out there. I was disappointed with your effort last year, and the Giants have sucked stopping the run with you, we could suck stopping the run without you.”

Few would endorse the idea of the Giants dumping an All-Pro as skilled as Lawrence. Yet, there are more than a few parallels between what the Jets did with Williams, and the situation the Giants are facing barely weeks before the draft.

Not the least of which involves the gaudy asking price the Giants could reasonably expect to command from any trade suitors. As Dan Duggan of The Athletic put it, “The asking price for Lawrence could be even higher” than what the Jets received for Williams.

That has to be tempting to Giants general manager Joe Schoen and new head coach John Harbaugh. Particularly when Lawrence is coming off a down year during which his effort and intensity were questioned by a franchise legend.

Lawrence had trouble staying healthy and being available for key moments in games. He also took his frustrations with play calling public.

The decline in Lawrence’s performances is summed up best by this damning statistic from SNY.tv’s Connor Hughes. He pointed out “Lawrence had an absurd run as an interior pass rusher from 2022 through 2024, registering 21 sacks. He hasn’t had a full sack in his last 22 games, though.”

This is similar to the downward trajectory Williams took with the Jets. Like Lawrence, he was a perennial Pro Bowl-level force, but Williams seemed to wane under the burden of constantly standing out on losing teams.

Lawrence is in a similar position, and although the Giants are staying patient, there are two other excellent reasons they should consider granting his trade request.

2 Hidden Factors Can Lead to Drafting Peter Woods

Morash pinpointed a key detail about Lawrence’s situation when he mentioned how much the Giants have still struggled to stop the run with a dominant nose tackle in the lineup.

Last season’s defense surrendering an eye-watering 5.3 yards per carry, the most in the NFL, was no anomaly. The Giants allowed 5.2 yards per rush during Lawrence’s 2022 peak, before giving up 4.7 a year later and 4.6 in 2024.

Fortifying this annual weakness will require a different approach in the middle, where Lawrence has always been more pass-rusher than run-stuffer. It’s why Woods makes sense as a draft target, because the former Clemson behemoth is a 310-plus pounder with exceptional short-area quickness and a flair for disrupting the run.

Woods isn’t even the only defensive tackle in this class worthy of a long look from the Giants. There’s also Ohio State’s Kayden McDonald, Caleb Banks of Florida and Texas Tech star Lee Hunter.

There are enough viable candidates for the Giants to consider getting what they can for Lawrence and taking the $13 million in cap savings projected by Spotrac’s Michael Ginnitti.

Losing a marquee talent is tough for any team, but the Giants have been in rebuilding mode long enough to know they need something bold to help construct a stronger overall roster.

James Dudko covers the New York Giants, Washington Commanders, New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens for Heavy.com. He has covered the NFL and world soccer since 2011, with bylines at FanSided, Prime Time Sports Talk and Bleacher Report before joining Heavy in 2021. More about James Dudko