The New York Giants couldn’t have convinced All-Pro nose tackle Dexter Lawrence II not to push for a trade, not when two former Big Blue teammates were talking to the dominant 28-year-old and convincing him to seek pastures new.
Lawrence got his wish when he was dealt to the Cincinnati Bengals for the 10th-overall pick in the 2026 NFL draft. He soon made clear what was missing with the Giants, but perhaps Lawrence lost his motivation because he was being influenced by some familiar faces and voices.
That’s according to Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News. He told The Carton Show on WFAN Sports Radio, how “it’s also Leonard Williams and Julian Love, and Dexter Lawrence, and their wives frankly, they are all very close, very good friends. Still talk, still talk a lot. And Leonard Williams and Julian Love voicing to Dexter, both what happened with them, as far as (Williams) being traded out of town, and then Julian feeling like he wasn’t properly valued, and then leaving and being able to come back to Dexter and saying ‘hey, the grass actually is greener on the other side.’ These were a lot of the factors that Dexter was internalising as he also felt underpaid.”
It’s understandable Williams and Love could sway Lawrence, when the pair joined the Seattle Seahawks and won last season’s Super Bowl. Yet, their ill-feelings toward the way their exits from the Giants were handled serve as a reminder of the problems consistent throughout general manager Joe Schoen’s tenure.
Problems that may have cost the Giants the most dominant interior pass-rusher in the NFL.
Dexter Lawrence Couldn’t Ignore Former Teammates’ Success
Watching ex-Giants free safety Love seal last season’s Super Bowl win must have been bittersweet for Lawrence. Just like hearing his former defensive tackle partner Williams talking about how his life changed for the better after being traded to Seattle back in 2023.
While guys he played alongside were winning the game’s biggest prize, Lawrence was toiling in obscurity. His dominance was being slowly eroded on Giants teams that won just 13 games since the 2022 season.
Losing had an impact on Lawrence’s state of mind entering this offseason, despite the arrival of high-profile new head coach John Harbaugh. The latter directed a winning program for most of his 18 years with the Baltimore Ravens, but Schoen remained in the front office as an emblem of the Giants’ past failures.
Schoen’s role in influencing Lawrence’s desire to leave is a further indictment of his erratic tenure.
Giants GM Joe Schoen Played a Large Role
Leonard provided more details about how Schoen’s handling of certain team affairs prompted Lawrence to want out. Specifically, Leonard revealed “how Schoen has handled other player negotiations, and how Dexter’s best players/teammates weren’t able to stick around ’cause the Giants couldn’t get it done and couldn’t do right by them.”
It’s not surprising Leonard made a point of name-dropping how “Saquon Barkley was talked to and treated the way he was, goes and wins.”
Barkley’s post-Giants career followed the same trajectory as that of Williams and Love. The prolific running back rushed for over 2000 yards and helped the 2024 Philadelphia Eagles lift the Lombardi Trophy after being jettisoned by Schoen in free agency.
There’s a clear pattern here where the Giants have been strip-mined of marquee talent on Schoen’s watch, and Lawrence finally had enough. He’d grown weary about being the odd man out when his contemporaries compared championship rings.
Changing this pattern for the better is Harbaugh’s primary job, but for the moment at least, he’ll have to do it alongside Schoen. Their working dynamic during this draft will go a long way toward revealing whether or not the Giants can fix the things Lawrence couldn’t live with anymore.
Former Giants Convinced Dexter Lawrence to Leave