Dexter Lawrence, Giants agree to four-year contract extension, reports say
Dexter Lawrence of the Giants reacts after a defensive stop in the first half against the Lions at MetLife Stadium on Nov. 20, 2022. Credit: Jim McIsaac
During the 2022 season, Dexter Lawrence was a man on a mission.
He was an exceptional fit in Wink Martindale’s defense. And it showed.
On Thursday, Lawrence was rewarded by the Giants with a massive contract extension -- $90 million over four years. The deal includes $60 million guaranteed. And, yes, that’s the going rate for premier defensive tackles these days.
The 25-year-old Lawrence became the third-highest paid defensive tackle in the league. NFL Network was first to announce the terms. Lawrence’s contract ties that of Daron Payne of Washington, whose deal was struck earlier this offseason. Aaron Donald is the highest paid at the position followed by Jeffery Simmons of the Titans.
Lawrence was entering the final year of his deal after the Giants picked up his fifth-year option last offseason.
There is no doubt that the Giants defensive staff members are elated with the Lawrence deal. As the 2022 season wore on, Martindale tried to find times to spell Lawrence when he could. Among defensive tackles in 2022, Lawrence ranked sixth in terms of total snaps during the season.
Asked about Lawrence’s workload during the season, Martindale said: “It’s like if you had a Rolls-Royce, wouldn’t you want to drive it everywhere? It’s just that he’s playing really well. And he wants to go back in. We’re going to try to peel back on some of those reps if we can; it always depends on where we’re at in a game.”
Giants defensive line coach Andre Patterson, who has coached some of the best defensive linemen in the game, told Newsday during the season that he compares Lawrence to John Randle, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2010.
At that time, Lawrence said he credited Patterson with “making me intentional with whatever technique I want to work on and having a mindset of being ‘the guy’ and putting my physicality on the field all the time.”
Said Patterson of Lawrence: “He can be great.”
Now, the Giants will continue to count on that for years to come.
Lawrence has already established himself in the Giants locker room. Last season, rookie defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux said Lawrence helped him to understand the interior of the defensive line and their responsibilities so he could execute his own rushes better. And outside linebacker Oshane Ximines said he considered Lawrence to be the “go-to guy” when it came to any questions about the defense.
Lawrence, he said, knew where every defender should be, at all times.
Now, the player Daboll referred to as “the centerpiece of the defense” is back. And Saquon Barkley is on deck.
Kimberly Jones covers the Giants for Newsday, a beat she first worked in the early 2000s before joining the YES Network to cover the Yankees. She worked for the NFL Network for more than a decade and has been heard semi-regularly on WFAN.
