Vikings Suddenly Linked to Dexter Lawrence
The Minnesota Vikings released two of their starting defensive tackles last month and may need a replacement or two in the NFL Draft, and it just so happens that Dexter Lawrence, who plays the same position, requested a trade from the New York Giants on Monday.
The cost would be steep, though a player of Lawrence’s caliber rarely becomes available in the first place.
Acquiring Lawrence won’t be cheap, but his next team won’t regret it.
Lawrence Would Change the Entire Equation Up Front
The Lawrence trade rumor mill is officially open for business.
Lawrence Requests Trade
The Lawrence era in New York is probably over. ESPN’s Adam Schefter wrote Monday, “New York Giants defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence II has requested a trade, and he will not be participating in the team’s offseason workout program that begins Tuesday, league sources told ESPN. Lawrence and the Giants have been through two offseasons attempting to negotiate a contract reflecting his value to the team over the past three years, but there has not been any progress, per sources.”
“Lawrence has two years remaining on his deal and is scheduled to make $20 million this upcoming season. 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 offseason program this week without one of his best players.”
It’s not outlandish to proclaim that Lawrence will have 31 NFL suitors, at least exploratorily.
New Giants head coach John Harbaugh said about Lawrence in February, “How important is he? Really important. He’s super, super important. He’s a cornerstone football player — not really a cornerstone, more like the middle stone. He’s right in the middle. He’s a very big stone, and he’s a very active, athletic one.”
“Yeah, again, we have a lot of those conversations as we continue to build or, to your point, open up money Like, where can we do it? Could we do an extension with other players? What does that look like? So we’re always having those conversations, not only with Dexter but on other players. And that’s part of our mapping out the offseason and planning.”
It seems Lawrence will not be around to see the Harbaugh era get off the ground in New York.
SI.com on the Vikings Would-Be Proposal
Then came the theoretical trade packages. SI.com‘s Will Ragatz scribed, “Vikings get: DT Dexter Lawrence. Giants get: 2026 second-round pick (No. 49), 2027 fifth-round pick. The biggest barrier for the Vikings is the financial side. They’d have to do some serious cap maneuvering to add Lawrence’s contract and give him a raise to top-of-the-market DT money.”
“The only way it really works is if they end up trading Greenard in a separate deal, which would free up some cap space and also presumably get them a new second-round pick. Lawrence may be a better fit within the Vikings’ current roster construction, but the easier move would be to simply pay Greenard instead of executing two different major trades.”
VikingsTerritory proposed this on Twitter (X), which was immediately mocked and rebuked by Giants fans:
Giants Get —
No. 18
No. 82
Vikings Get —
Dexter Lawrence
No. 37
Regardless, the idea is out there.
Lawrence’s Career Output
Lawrence is a three-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro. He’s widely accepted as the best nose tackle in the NFL and might even be the best overall defensive tackle. When he requested the trade Monday, it was a big damn deal, as his placement with a new team has the capability of shifting the balance of power leaguewide.
The 28-year-old has banked 30.5 sacks in 109 career games, with 103 quarterback hits, 40 tackles for loss, and 15 forced fumbles.
Here’s his Pro Football Focus resume since 2019:
- 2025: 75.6
- 2024: 89.9
- 2023: 92.9
- 2022: 91.6
- 2021: 68.6
- 2020: 79.7
- 2019: 76.2
MIN Finances
As mentioned by Ragatz, money is the tricky part: the Vikings just used the last month to spend frugally in free agency, combating a cap-space crunch. Usually, teams that operate that way don’t turn around and trade for Dexter Lawrences.
Still, there’s a chance that Minnesota planned for this — keeping the budget nimble so that, if a player became available in the spring or summer, it could pounce.
Lawrence’s contract extension, after the eventual trade, will likely pay him around $30 million per season. In theory, Minnesota could accommodate that by firing up a three-year deal worth $90 million, making the cap hits sunset heavily in 2028 and 2029, and possibly trading outside linebacker Jonathan Greenard to a new team for a 2nd-Round pick.
The 2026 DL would look like this:
- Dallas Turner
- Dexter Lawrence
- Jalen Redmond
- Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins
- Andrew Van Ginkel
Not bad.
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