
Four big takeaways from the Dexter Lawrence trade: Barnwell sizes up the Bengals' shocking move
Bengals make a surprising move, trading for Dexter Lawrence with the 10th pick.
The Cincinnati Bengals traded the 10th overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft to acquire All-Pro defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence from the New York Giants. This significant move strengthens the Bengals' roster and enhances their championship aspirations.
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Last year was nothing short of a disaster for rookie linebackers Barrett Carter and Demetrius Knight, who were thrown into the fire far sooner than they were prepared for, and their shortcomings were a key reason why the defense struggled so much. But to be fair, the defensive line rarely did them any favors, and the defensive tackles were especially bad. Good defensive tackles make life soooooo much easier on the linebackers, especially when itâs a guy the caliber of Lawrence, a two-time Second-Team All-Pro selection. With Carter and Knight both set to keep their starting jobs this year, getting them more help up front was imperative to do this offseason. Between Lawrence and the free agency addition of , life just got a whole lot easier for the young backers.
The Bengals traded the 10th overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft to the New York Giants for Dexter Lawrence.
Lawrence's addition is expected to significantly improve the Bengals' defensive line, making it easier for linebackers and enhancing overall defensive performance.
Key winners include linebackers Barrett Carter and Demetrius Knight, defensive tackle B.J. Hill, head coach Zac Taylor, and quarterback Joe Burrow.
The trade is likely to improve the Bengals' chances of winning, which could secure Zac Taylor's job beyond the 2027 season.

Bengals make a surprising move, trading for Dexter Lawrence with the 10th pick.

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It was ironically B.J. Hill who was giving Bengals fans little bread crumbs that a big move was coming, and boy was he right on the mark. And itâs a move that will greatly benefit Hill, who primarily plays as a 3-technique, whereas Lawrence lines up often at nose tackle. Hill got far too little help from the other defensive tackles last season, but now he has as good a running mate as heâs had in his entire career. We saw how good Hill was running next to D.J. Reader, and thereâs no question Lawrence is a step up from what Reader was. As much as the rookie linebackers will benefit from this move, Hill also stands to have a big jump in production this year with less attention on him.
With Zac Taylor firmly on the hot seat, the Bengals werenât exactly having the kind of offseason that inspired a lot of confidence in the Bengals doing enough to save Taylorâs job next year. But with this trade of Lawrence, itâs hard to see the Bengals not winning enough games to keep Taylor in town for 2027 and potentially beyond. Plus, itâs not like the Bengals have been particularly good at drafting under Taylor. Sure, they got Joe Burrow and JaâMarr Chase with top-five selections, but thereâs no one close to that caliber of player falling to No. 10 this year. Weâre not gonna see the Bengals draft a guy like Myles Murphy or Dax Hill who need several years of development. They just got an instant-impact starter who has a real chance of making a bigger impact in 2026 than any rookie in this class does.
While Taylorâs seat was hot entering next season, Goldenâs was scorching after last seasonâs debacle. Many wondered if heâd even make it this far, but the Bengals opted to keep Golden, and now he has someone better than anyone the defensive coordinator worked with last season. Between the additions of Lawrence, Allen, Boye Mafe, and Bryan Cook, Goldenâs defense suddenly has some real potential heading into next season.
Joe Burrow had been adamant about wanting to see the Bengals be aggressive this offseason and get this roster back to one that not only makes the playoffs for the first time in four years, but also gets back to contending for Super Bowls. Iâm not sure even Burrow envisioned this aggressive of an offseason from a notoriously conservative organization. Bryan Cook, Boye Mafe, Jonathan Allen, and now Dexter Lawrence? Burrow is grinning ear to ear as we speak.
This was exactly the kind of move owner Mike Brown, de facto GM Duke Tobin, and the rest of the front office needed to make after it felt like the same things that happened to the Carson Palmer and Andy Dalton eras was unfolding with the Joe Burrow era: The Bengals building a good core for a title contender but never aggressively looking to make that big move that got them over the hump and just âhopingâ it would all work out. Thankfully, Brown, Tobin, and the rest of the gang made a game-changing move that pushes this roster from one that looks like an early-exit playoff team to one capable of claiming the franchiseâs first Lombardi Trophy.
Even if the Bengals nailed the 10th pick, we wouldnât have been celebrating like this. This was amazing for soooooo many reasons, and itâs one that gives us Bengals fans the best chance of watching a special season unfold full of wonderful memories and thrilling performances like we saw in 2021. Hope is a beautiful thing, and itâs something all of us have waaaaay more now than we did at just about any point last season. And now we can actually brag about our franchise being progressive and proactive! Who would have even guessed that??
The Bengals signed the 330-pound T.J. Slaton last offseason to be their jumbo-sized d-tackle, but the Bengals just got a big upgrade with the 340-pound Lawrence, who can play the run and the pass well, whereas Slaton is mostly limited as a big-bodied run defender, and he wasnât particularly great there. Slaton stands to lose enough playing time from this move that itâs fair to wonder if he wonât be a cap casualty at some point.
Unfortunately, losing the 10th pick means there will be no Sonny Styles, Caleb Downs, Rueben Bain, or Mansoor Delane coming to the Queen City. However, there was a very real chance all of those names would have been off the board by the time the Bengals went on the clock, leaving them to potentially draft someone like Jermod McCoy coming off an ACL tear or Keldric Faulk coming off a Shemar Stewart-esque season of little production on the edge despite freakish measurables. This was a good thing, even though itâs going to be a tough pill to swallow for some who were rooting for one of those blue-chip guys to land in Cincy. So, who would you say your biggest winner and loser was from the Dexter Lawrence trade? Sound off in the comments section!