A former Clemson star in the NFL wants a trade.
New York Giants All-Pro defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence has requested a trade amid a long-running contract standoff, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
“Lawrence and the Giants have been through two off seasons attempting to negotiate a contract reflecting his value to the Giants over the last three years, but there has not been any progress, per sources,” Schefter reported.
Schefter noted that Lawrence — who has two years left on his deal and is currently scheduled to make $20 million for the 2026 season — won’t be taking part in the Giants’ offseason workout program that begins Tuesday.
“Initially there had been optimism that with changes in the organization, discussions could move forward. But now that they haven’t, new Giants head coach John Harbaugh will open his team’s off-season program Tuesday without one of his best players,” Schefter added.
Harbaugh met with the media at the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine in February and had plenty of praise for Lawrence. When asked about Lawrence, Harbaugh adamantly expressed desire for Lawrence to stay with the team.
“How important is he? Really important. He’s super, super important,” Harbaugh said. “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.”
By his lofty standards, the 6-foot-4, 340-pound defensive tackle is coming off a down 2025 campaign, his seventh with the New York 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, 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.