Cincinnati Bengals: Locker room reinvigorated by trade for Lawrence

“It’s one of those things that just elevates everybody, and we’ve got to go win,” Taylor said. “You add Dexter, you add all these guys on defense that we’ve added. Again, credit to upstairs, to personnel and those guys for getting these guys down here in the locker room because you can just feel the presence of everybody we’ve added on top of the guys that we already have — young and old. We’ve got a really great collection of guys. We’re in a tremendous position going into the draft this weekend to just add pieces on either side of the ball that can help us win. I’m really excited about the position we’re in.”

Safety Jordan Battle said he loves the trade and was happy to see the organization make such an unexpected move. He thinks Lawrence was “well worth” giving up a top 10 pick.

Adding a guy like Lawrence helps every level of the defense because he will soak up a lot of attention from the opposing linemen and cause “panic” for the quarterback.

“He just creates chaos,” Battle said. “Beats double teams very often, can factor in the run game and the pass game, probably one of the most explosive D-tackles in the pass game in the league. So, it’s gonna be fun.”

Mims and center Ted Karras both said they are glad they are teammates with Lawrence now, even if that means they need to be ready for some big battles in training camp. They feel sorry for opposing offensive linemen that have to face Lawrence in games.

Karras knows what that feels like as someone who has faced Lawrence both with the Bengals and in his previous stint with the New England Patriots.

“I am excited that we have a guy that elicits fear in opposing offensive lines,” Karras said. “I mean, that’s just what it is. He’s an intimidating guy to play against and a very productive, awesome player. And from the initial, you know, hour I’ve spent with him, seems like a fantastic human being. So really, really excited he’s on the team. That was a big little jolt going in there.”

Karras remembers Lawrence being hard to stop because he’s so powerful and also quick for his size.

The Bengals went into the offseason with a lot of questions about their defensive line and now have Mafe, Allen and Lawrence joining BJ Hill and ascending defensive end Myles Murphy. Mims said opposing offensive lines will have to “pick their poison” on who to stop.

“When your best guy’s in the middle, if it’s a three-down front, your whole interior is basically locked in on him, and it forces the tackles to be one-on-one,” Mims said. “With a guy like (Lawrence), … then we have Jonathan coming in, we have Mafe coming, like, who you gonna focus on? You’re gonna slide to him. Are you gonna leave him one on one? What do you do? So, like, I said, man, great job for free agency, and we just got a lot of dudes who can ball.”

BJ Hill was especially reinvigorated having Lawrence, a close friend and former Giants teammate, join the Bengals. The whole defense has a new vibe going into 2026, he said.

“You love seeing great players come in here and want to be here and want to play winning football,” Hill said.