After two weeks of speculation, the public strife between the New York Giants and defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence has come to a conclusion. The Giants traded Lawrence to the Cincinnati Bengals for the 10th overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.
The immediate question to be answered is no longer to whom the Giants could trade Lawrence or how much could they get for him, but now it’s: “How can the Giants replace Lawrence?”
The quick and dirty answer is that they can’t, at least not when Lawrence is at his
best. When healthy and motivated, Lawrence is a “one of one” player who’s able to dominate the middle of the line of scrimmage the way very, very few others are able. The fact of the matter is that no one player will be able to fill the void that Dexter Lawrence leaves — not even a diminished version of Lawrence himself.
Since the Giants needed to add depth to their defensive front even before tehe Lawrence trade, the best answer is likely a combination approach between free agency and the draft. The good news here is that trading Lawrence not only netted the 10th overall pick, it freed up roughly $13 million in cap space.
That’s a fair amount of resources to allocate toward filling the void and building the team as a whole.
Free agency
It would have been nice if Lawrence could have demanded a trade about a month ago, back before free agency opened and the market was still full. Now, however, the market is rather shallow but there are a few real options out there.
D.J. Reader
The Giants hosted Reader for a visit — a rare occurrence nowadays — so it’s likely that he is fully on the Giants’ radar. He’s also a familiar face for John Harbaugh after spending his first six seasons in the AFC, two of which were in the AFC North with the Cincinnati Bengals.
Reader is probably my first choice for a veteran to help fill out the Giants’ depth chart. At 6-foot-3, 335 pounds, the former Detroit Lion is a natural fit for the nose tackle position and is still a good player at 32 years old. He doesn’t bring the game-wrecking upside of a healthy Lawrence, but he’s consistently solid against the run and can collapse pockets as well. Reader could also be relatively affordable, with Spotrac estimating a 2-year, $7.7 million contract.
Even if the Giants hadn’t traded Lawrence, Reader still would have been worth bringing in to share the load.
Calais Campbell
Tony Del Genio has been banging the drum for Campbell in our staff chat, so I’m including him here.
Campbell wouldn’t be a direct replacement for Lawrence, and instead a (potential) upgrade for another defensive line position. At 6-foot-8, 315 pounds, Campbell would be better suited for a 3-technique, 4i-technique, or 5-technique alignment. Campbell is coming off of a solid season for the Arizona Cardinals, with 6.5 sacks and 9 tackles for a loss, which is a big reason why SpoTrac estimates a one-year, $10.9 million contract for him. Personally, I would be hesitant to give that much money to a defensive tackle who will turn 40 years old between the end of preseason and Week 1.
However, he’s still an option we should consider.
Shelby Harris
The Giants have been circling Harris for a while now, and hosted him for an in-person visit back in March.
Harris is another natural nose tackle, plying his trade last year for the Cleveland Browns. He’ll be 35 years old come Week 1, and doesn’t offer the same pass rush upside as Reader. However, he remains a stout run defender who could be a useful piece as a rotational tackle. Harris isn’t a solution in and of himself, but he could be a useful piece paired with Reader or Campbell, as well as a rookie.
Our own Ed Valentine has speculated that the Giants are holding off on signing a defensive tackle until after the draft to preserve future compensatory picks. That makes sense considering the influence of John Harbaugh. We could see both Harris and Reader in Blue after the Draft
The 2026 NFL Draft
Prior to the report that Lawrence requested a trade, I considered defensive line depth to be a secondary need for the Giants. Assuming Darius Alexander takes a step and builds on his play under Charlie Bullen, the Giants could add depth around Alexander and a free agent like Reader or Harris with a draft pick.
Now that Lawrence has been traded, that need becomes a priority, and the Giants might have to to shop at the top of the market on the first or second day of the draft.
Kayden McDonald (Ohio State)
McDonald is my DL1 and the only one I would feel at all good about drafting in the first round.
He was primarily a run stuffer at Ohio State, however his quickness and agility suggest greater pass rush upside than he was able to show in college. He was well-coached in college and seems to have an instinctual understanding of angles and leverages on the interior. McDonald is a “plug and play” nose tackle, and he should continue to get better as he develops. The question is whether the Giants would be able to get him, considering he’s generally expected to be a late first round pick.
Lee Hunter (Texas Tech)
Hunter was in contention with McDonald to be the first defensive tackle off the board after the 2026 Panini Senior Bowl. Then he had a poor showing at the Scouting Combine and evaluators began to wonder if Hunter was made to look better by the talent around him at Texas Tech and a poor offensive line class.
We all knew Hunter was slow from his game tape, however he at least appeared somewhat quick in a short area. However, his historically poor 21.5-inch vertical raised some serious questions about his lower-body explosiveness.
Interestingly, however, Hunter has a very similar athletic profile to former Giant Johnathan Hankins.
Hunter’s workout might have knocked him out of consideration in the first round, but he might be a real option if the Giants decide to replace Lawrence at the top of the second round.
Caleb Banks (Florida)
If there’s one defensive lineman in this class who could come the closest to actually replacing Dexter Lawrence, it’s Caleb Banks.
Like Lawrence, Banks has legitimately freakish athletic traits with incredible explosiveness, great speed (despite testing on a broken foot), long arms, and effortless power. He also has the size to be a real option at nose tackle at 6-foot-6, 327 pounds, as well as the athleticism to play a defensive end or under tackle role. Banks is capable of taking over, and wrecking, a game from the defensive interior, and he’s still only scratching the surface of his upside.
Banks offers the significant risk as well as reward. He has real injury concerns as foot injuries have nagged him since 2024, and that could keep him out of the first round. However, he also has more upside than almost any player in the draft. If the Giants want to actually replace Lawrence, Banks is the guy who can do it. But you also better be right about the player under the pads.
