Dexter Lawrence, New York Giants
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Dexter Lawrence #97 of the New York Giants walks off the field after defeating the Las Vegas Raiders in the game at Allegiant Stadium.
The New York Giants have a massive offseason facing them, the first under new head coach John Harbaugh, and, hopefully, one that allows them to turn this team into a playoff contender.
Unfortunately, the Giants have their hands partially tied. As it stands now, they have roughly $5 million in cap space to work with, according to Over the Cap, 13th-least in the league.
New York will have to do some cap maneuvering, including cuts and restructures, to allow themselves some more room to work with heading into free agency.
When eyeing up the Giants’ cap sheet, one name sticks out as a high-paid player with next to no guaranteed salary remaining on his contract.
What to Do With Giants’ Dexter Lawrence
All-Pro defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence has a potential out in his contract this offseason, allowing the New York Giants to cut him and incur only a $13.9 million penalty on their salary cap, per Spotrac.
Instead, the Athletic’s Dan Duggan believes the Giants should extend Lawrence and spread out his cap hits over a longer period, creating more flexibility this offseason.
“Topping the $26 million average annual salary Milton Williams secured from the Patriots in free agency last offseason is a fair outcome. With Lawrence already signed through 2027, a two-year extension worth $56 million would give him a $28 million average annual salary in the added years,” wrote Duggan.
“Beyond rewarding one of the team’s best players, another benefit of extending Lawrence would be lowering his $27 million cap hit in 2026. The Giants could easily create a few million in cap savings by spreading the cap charge from a signing bonus evenly throughout a new four-year deal.”
Extending Lawrence now has its pros and cons. On one hand, rewarding one of your team’s best players with a new contract is good for morale. It shows the front office is willing to negotiate with key contributors.
On the other hand, despite his previous accomplishments in New York, is Lawrence really deserving of that new deal?
Has Dexter Lawrence Fallen Off?
Duggan weighed the risks of extending Lawrence, and also considered the possibility of the New York Giants trading him if they were that desperate to get out from under his contract.
“The Giants will need to take a leap of faith either way. If they trade Lawrence, they’d be shipping away a player who was considered the best defensive tackle in the league as recently as last summer…But the Giants just watched Leonard Williams, who they traded in 2023, win a Super Bowl as part of a dominant Seahawks defensive line at age 31,” continued Duggan.
“On the other hand, committing to Lawrence would be risky based on his performance last season. There hasn’t been a clear explanation for his decline in production (nine sacks in 2024, a half-sack in 2025), but he’s still treated like a game-wrecker by opponents. I’m betting that the 28-year-old comes back motivated to reclaim his status as the most disruptive interior defensive lineman in the league.”
You can attribute Lawrence’s downturn in production to his 2024 elbow injury. It kept him out of offseason activities and even impacted him at the start of the 2025 season.
Regardless, the NFL is a “what have you done for me lately?” league. And the fact of the matter is, Lawrence hasn’t been the dominant force he was in years past last season.
We’ll see if a new defensive coaching staff can give him the boost he needs to get back on top of his game, but in the meantime, the Giants have a difficult decision on their hands heading into the 2026 offseason.