New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen said during his annual pre-draft press conference on Tuesday that the team has had “good conversation” with star defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence about his contract. Schoen did not put a deadline on when the situation with Lawrence, who is not attending the voluntary offseason program, needs to be resolved.
“We’ve had good conversations with his representatives throughout the last five or six days,” Schoen said. Coach [John Harbaugh], Dawn [Aponte], myself,
we’ve all been in communication trying to find some resolution.
“I’ll echo what Coach said last week. We’d like for Dexter to be here and at some point we’ll come to a resolution here. Whatever that may be, we’ll see.”
Lawrence has two years remaining on the four-year, $90 million extension he signed in 2024. There is, however, no guaranteed salary left on that contract. The 28-year-old Lawrence has requested a trade.
“Conversations have been really good. They’ve been productive,” Schoen said. “Again, we’ll see what happens here down the road.”
Schoen did admit that the Giants have fielded calls about the two-time All-Pro.
“I’m always gonna pick up the phone if a team calls,” Schoen said. “Maybe not to the effect that Coach said last week that everybody is tradable. That is my job as a general manager.
“If teams call, you take into account. It’s case-by-case basis and what the compensation may be. That’s my job to take into consideration what that looks like, what the compensation looks like, who the player is, how that affects the roster and then try to make the best decision off of that.”
Schoen was asked if next week’s draft provided a deadline of sorts so that, should the Giants need to trade Lawrence, they could get compensation that would benefit the 2026 roster.
“I’m not gonna get into it on if there’s a deadline or not. He’s under contract for two more years,” Schoen said. “We’re not gonna put any deadlines on anything.”
— More takeaways from Schoen’s press conference to come
