Dexter Lawrence requests trade from Giants in pre-draft bombshell

Dexter Lawrence delivered the first major blow to the sunny John Harbaugh Era.

Lawrence requested a trade from the Giants and will skip the voluntary portion of the offseason program that begins Tuesday because two years worth of negotiations on a contract extension have gone nowhere, The Post confirmed.

It’s a significant reversal of stance by Lawrence, who told The Post before last season that he envisions his name in the Giants’ Ring of Honor when asked about potentially wasting his prime going through rebuild after rebuild.

Access the Giants like never before

Get texts from Paul Schwartz with all the latest Giants news and insights, exclusive to Sports+ subscribers.

tRY IT NOW

But Lawrence’s leverage power play has been brewing for a while given that there is no guaranteed money remaining in the final two years of the four-year, $90 million extension that he signed in 2023. He is due $20 million in salary and bonuses in 2026 and that’s “just not reasonable,” one league source said.

Lawrence’s contract quickly became outdated by an exploding defensive-tackle market that now ranks him as the 12th-highest-paid at the position in average annual value — behind the likes of the Eagles’ Jordan Davis (three years, $78 million) and Patriots’ Milton Williams (four years, $104 million). Neither Davis nor Williams is a Pro Bowler while Lawrence is a three-time Pro Bowler and two-time Second-Team All-Pro.

There is a significant gap between Davis and Williams averaging $26 million per year and the highest-paid defensive tackle (Chiefs’ Chris Jones) at $31.7 million. That provides a big range that Lawrence could fall into with a four-year, $110 million extension, one agent projected.

One source close to Lawrence, 28, cited his contract, the consistent losing throughout his career and frustrations with roster management — including the hardline business tactics taken with his close friends Leonard Williams, Julian Love and Saquon Barkley, all of whom have won Super Bowls since leaving New York — as reasons for Lawrence’s discontent.

The Giants placated Lawrence by adding $3 million in incentives (not reached) to his contract in 2025. 

“Dex is probably the best player I’ve ever played with,” Love told The Post at Super Bowl 60. “I want him to continue to get that shine, but I know it’s hard for those guys over there to lose. Cream always rises. Hopefully, Dex can make the best out of any situation. Hopefully, they turn it around over there for him.

“I talk to him. He shows up every day, deals with a lot and through it all never makes it about himself. It’s so easy to go that way, and Dex has never gone that way. I think that needs to be appreciated and respected. He’s the same person every day through dark times – only the one percent of the one percent are able to do that.”

New head coach John Harbaugh has raved about Lawrence. New defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson is thought to have big plans for Lawrence after coaching the Titans’ Jeffrey Simmons. Both coaches are scheduled to address the media Tuesday.  

“He’s super, super important,” Harbaugh said about Lawrence in February. “He’s a cornerstone football player — not really a cornerstone, more like the middle stone. He’s a very big stone, and he’s a very active, athletic one.”

The Jets received a first-round pick, a second-round pick and former first-round pick Mazi Smith in a trade last October for Pro Bowl defensive tackle Quinnen Williams. Could Lawrence command a similar package, especially given that the 2026 draft class is light on first-round defensive tackles?

“He’s a better player,” one talent evaluator told The Post, “so yeah.”

The difference is that Lawrence is seeking a new contract and Williams was not.

“A late first-round pick plus a Day 2 pick in 2027,” one executive said when asked for fair value.

The leverage lies with Lawrence because defensive tackle is arguably the weakest spot on the roster — virtually untouched through free agency — even with him in the mix. Take away Lawrence and the Giants are left with journeyman Roy Robertson Harris and unproven Darius Alexander as starters.

Not to mention that the Giants are hungry to end a narrative that most of their best homegrown players walk out the door and become better.

But it’s a sticky situation because Lawrence only has one-half sack in his last 22 games, after 21.5 in a 44-game stretch from 2022-24. A dislocated elbow ended his 2024 season and ironman run, and he did not look the same after surgery last season while facing questions about his conditioning.

Lawrence and then-position coach Andre Patterson vehemently defended his play by pointing out that Lawrence is the most frequently double-teamed player in the NFL.

“For the last 3 years he’s been the best interior lineman in the league,” one source said. “Last year you may say was an off year, but he’s still double-teamed (more than 50) percent of the time. GMs in the NFC East, they’re scared of him, they scheme for him, he’s the best player.”