John Harbaugh, New York Giants
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Head coach John Harbaugh of the Baltimore Ravens reacts in the first quarter against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field.
Heading into the 2026 offseason, the New York Giants have their hands tied thanks to their current cap situation.
Over the Cap projects the Giants to have about $5 million in cap space, giving them very little wiggle room to work with.
Cuts and restructures will be necessary if the new head coach wants to shape the roster in his image and bring in new players to help establish the culture and identity he wishes to bring to New York.
Of course, there are also a few trades the Giants could make to clear up cap space. Several veterans with large contracts sit atop their payroll.
But trading some of these players would certainly make New York a worse football team, and they consider that if the phones begin to ring.
Giants Trade Idea Ships Dexter Lawrence to the Bengals
In a deal that would absolutely free up the most cap space for the New York Giants, but would also see them lose one of their best players, Bleacher Report’s Alex Ballentine proposed a trade that would send defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence to the Cincinnati Bengals.
Cincinnati Bengals receive: Dexter Lawrence, 2026 sixth-round pick (No. 192)
New York Giants receive: 2026 second-round pick (No. 41), 2027 fifth-round pick
“He’s the force multiplier in the middle of the defense that could change the Bengals front. They’d have to give up a similar package to what Seattle gave the Giants to get Leonard Williams,” wrote Ballentine.
“New York could clear a significant bit of cap space by dealing Lawrence, which might prompt it to listen if a strong offer comes along.”
While the deal makes all the sense in the world for the Bengals, who boasted the league’s worst run defense last season, giving up 147.1 rushing yards per game to opponents, the Giants would be silly to make this trade.
Not only would they be getting rid of a player who’s a three-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro, but the hypothetical return they get is underwhelming, to say the least.
Lawrence has had a couple of down years, that’s for sure. In 2024, he missed five games with an elbow injury, and 2025 saw his lowest total sack output since the 2021 season, recording only a half-sack.
But his presence on the interior of the Giants’ defensive line is almost invaluable, eating up space so New York’s elite edge rushers can get home to opposing quarterbacks.
How Can the Giants Lower Dexter Lawrence’s Cap Hit?
Instead of trading or cutting Lawrence entirely, the New York Giants can extend their elite interior defensive lineman to spread out his money and lower his cap hit.
The Athletic’s Dan Duggan proposed tacking on a two-year, $56 million extension to his pre-existing deal, keeping Lawrence under contract with the Giants until 2030.
“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,” wrote Duggan.
New York wouldn’t be saving as much money by completely cutting ties with Lawrence, but they would still be able to free up some room to make other moves.
The Giants can make sacrifices in a lot of places across their roster, such as releasing linebacker Bobby Okereke or guard Jon Runyan, but Lawrence is an area they should look to re-work, and not move on from one of the best players on the roster.