Why Giants and Bengals Rushed Dexter Lawrence Trade Before Draft Pick

The Giants and Cincinnati Bengals moved quickly to finalize the trade for defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence before the draft, and a failed Maxx Crosby deal played a key role in that urgency. According to multiple league sources, both teams were concerned about Lawrence passing a physical, a risk that became more pronounced after the Crosby trade fell through.

Ideally, the Giants would have acquired Cincinnati’s first-round pick in exchange for Lawrence when the pick was on the clock. That would have prevented the Giants from being leapfrogged by another team that guessed correctly about their target at No. 10 overall. While the Browns traded down to No. 9 and selected a tackle before the Giants picked, the Giants have never confirmed whether they would have chosen Spencer Fano (the Browns’ pick) over Francis Mauioga.

The best way to execute the Lawrence trade, sources say, was to complete it while the 10th pick was still on the clock. The Crosby trade’s failure heightened concerns about Lawrence’s physical, making an early deal the safer option for both teams.

How the A.J. Brown Trade Set a Precedent

The trade that sent receiver A.J. Brown from the Titans to the Eagles during the 2022 draft offers a similar scenario. The Eagles secured the Titans’ first-round pick while it was on the clock, preventing Tennessee from being leapfrogged by a team that might have drafted Brown’s replacement. While Treylon Burks, the Titans’ eventual pick, hasn’t lived up to expectations, that outcome doesn’t invalidate the strategy—many first-round picks don’t pan out, even if it’s become taboo to acknowledge that during the draft.

The Brown trade might not have happened the same way after the Crosby deal. While teams have full access to medical records, including exit physicals from the prior season, all trades remain pending a physical. That’s what happened on Friday when the Vikings and Eagles agreed to a deal for defensive end Jonathan Greenard, keeping it quiet until Greenard passed his physical.

Why the Giants and Bengals Acted Early

For the Giants, Bengals, and Lawrence, the stakes were far higher. While a quiet trade might have been possible, the difficulty of pulling it off without leaks made an early deal the better choice. The Giants and Bengals moved forward to avoid giving other teams five extra days to speculate about their No. 10 pick—and potentially cut in line ahead of them, as the Eagles did by selecting receiver Makai Lemon from the Steelers on Thursday night.

Lawrence and the Bengals also needed to finalize a new contract. The Eagles successfully executed a similar maneuver with Brown in 2022 and again on Friday with Greenard.

In the end, concerns over Lawrence’s physical and the need to secure a contract made it prudent for all parties to finalize the trade early. That doesn’t mean trades for picks on the clock will never happen again—but such deals now require clear contingency plans in case the player fails the physical. With the pick