After being fired by the Baltimore Ravens on Jan. 6, John Harbaugh was hired as the next head coach of the New York Giants on Jan. 20, and it’s clear that he wants to keep one of the Giants’ defensive stalwarts – former Clemson star Dexter Lawrence – around for the future.

Harbaugh met with the media at the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine and had plenty of praise for Lawrence, despite the fact the 6-foot-4, 340-pound defensive tackle is coming off a disappointing 2025 campaign.

When asked about Lawrence, who is almost out of guaranteed money in his contract, Harbaugh made it clear how he and the Giants feel about Lawrence and adamantly expressed desire for Lawrence to stay with the team.

“How important is he? Really important. He’s super, super important,” Harbaugh said, via New York Giants beat writer Art Stapleton of NorthJersey.com/USA TODAY Network. “He’s a cornerstone football player. Not really a cornerstone. He’s more like the middle stone. He’s right in the middle. He’s a very big stone, you know, and he’s a very active, athletic stone.”

The 28-year-old Lawrence is under contract with the Giants through the 2027 season. In May 2023, he and the franchise agreed to a four-year, $90 million extension with $60 million guaranteed.

SNY’s Alex Smith noted that “Lawrence could be a cap casualty for New York, given his roughly $27 million cap hit next season,” but Smith added that “instead of cutting or trading Lawrence, the Giants could look to restructure his contract, and could even extend him to lower his immediate cap hit.”

Lawrence saw his production take a big step back in 2025, his seventh season with the Giants. In 17 games (all starts), Lawrence tallied 31 total tackles, four tackles for loss, 0.5 sacks, eight quarterback hits, four passes defended and an interception that he returned 37 yards.

Lawrence’s number of sacks, tackles and quarterback hits in 2025 were all career lows. However, there’s no doubt that Lawrence has established himself as a dominant presence on the interior of the Giants’ defensive line.

Prior to the 2025 season, Lawrence collected three straight Pro Bowl selections from 2022-24 and also earned All-Pro honors in the 2022 and 2023 seasons. He became the first Giants player to be voted to three straight Pro Bowls since safety Landon Collins from 2016-18, and if he hadn’t suffered a season-ending elbow injury in 2024 – when he posted a career-high nine sacks — he could have very well earned his third consecutive All-Pro selection as well.

Heading into his eighth NFL season in 2026, Lawrence has racked up 341 total tackles, 40 tackles for loss and 30.5 sacks in 109 career games (102 starts) since being selected by the Giants in the first round (17th overall) of the 2019 NFL Draft.