The New York Giants traded Dexter Lawrence to the Cincinnati Bengals for the 10th overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. This trade significantly impacts the draft landscape, potentially affecting the Dallas Cowboys' strategy.
Key points
Giants traded Dexter Lawrence to Bengals
Giants received 10th overall pick in 2026 NFL Draft
Fernando Mendoza is the top quarterback prospect
Jeremiyah Love led college football in rushing touchdowns
Trade impacts draft strategy for teams like Cowboys
New York GiantsCincinnati Bengals
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The 2026 NFL Draft was shaping up to be a pretty ho-hum affair under a week out from the opening round kicking off in Pittsburgh on April 23.
There's no debate about who the top quarterback in this draft class is or who the first overall pick should be. Indiana Hoosiers national champion quarterback Fernando Mendoza, the 2025 Heisman Trophy winner, will be a Las Vegas Raider after the night's first selection. The next quarterback debate, if it's big enough to even call it that, is if Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson should even be a first-round pick given his one year as a starter in Tuscaloosa. Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love, who led college football in rushing touchdowns (35) and touchdowns from scrimmage (40) across the last two seasons, is such a dynamic playmaker with the ball in his hands, thanks to a video game-like spin move and the agility/balance to remain upright after using his go-to move, that no one is really that up in arms about the prospect of a running back going in the top 10.
The 2026 NFL Draft class's prospects are intriguing because some of the top talent play at what are typically viewed as non-premium positions. There's the aforementioned Love at running back. Ohio State inside linebacker Sonny Styles, whose athletic testing profile from the NFL Scouting Combine compared favorably to wide receiver Calvin Johnson, aka the Pro Football Hall of Fame artist formerly known as Megatron. Ohio State All-American safety Caleb Downs' versatility makes him arguably the draft's top defensive back prospect. Miami's Rueben Bain Jr., one of the draft's top edge rushers, is hamstrung by his arm length of just under 31 inches, 30⅞ inches to be exact. No draft class is perfect, but this one has plenty of imperfections at the top.
So how will things unfold come Thursday night after this trade that gives the Giants two bites at the apple in the first 10 picks? According to NFL Mock Draft Database, the Giants selecting Styles fifth overall has been the consensus move at New York's first selection of the night. What comes next is where things get interesting. The Cleveland Browns will certainly go offense with the sixth overall pick, whether that's at offensive line or perhaps the draft's cleanest wide receiver prospect in Ohio State's Carnell Tate.
Arizona State wide receiver Jordyn Tyson, a player who some viewed as the draft's most explosive wide receiver if he could prove his nagging hamstring injury was a thing of the past, reentered the top 10 pick conversation on Friday. He held a solo workout at ASU to athletically test and go through drills for the first time this draft cycle. ESPN's Pete Thamel reported the following about Tyson's showing, "He showed the twitch, explosiveness and leaping ability we all saw in the fall. He showed he's healthy and still explosive, which is all he needed to do."
ESPN reported Giants general manager Joe Schoen was in Arizona for Tyson's workout on Friday and had dinner with him the night before. Could New York be interested in pairing Tyson with Pro Bowl wide receiver Malik Nabers, who broke the franchise's single-season catches record with 109 as a rookie in 2024, by using the 10th overall pick on the now-healthy Sun Devil?
If that's the case, the team that would likely be the happiest with the Giants drafting Tyson is an NFC East rival in the Dallas Cowboys. Here's why. The Cowboys gave up an NFL-worst 30.1 points per game in 2025. That scoring defense points per game allowed number ranks as the second-most points per game allowed in the 66-season history of the Cowboys. Only Dallas' inaugural 1960 team, which finished 0-11-1, was worse. They desperately need an impact defensive player when they come on the clock with the 12th overall pick.
If Tyson and Tate are both off the board through the first 10 picks, there's a chance someone like Downs, Bain or LSU cornerback Mansoor Delane, who yielded the lowest passer rating allowed (24.1) in the SEC last season among 82 players with at least 30 passes thrown their way, could be on the board after 10 picks. Then there's the Miami Dolphins at No. 11, but if both Tate and Tyson are no longer available, that could result in Miami selecting USC 2025 Biletnikoff Award-winning wide receiver Makai Lemon for new quarterback Malik Willis. That would grant Dallas' wish of being able to select the type of defensive talent they need. If New York doubles up on defense in the top 10 to mold new head coach John Harbaugh's Giants' squad similar to that of his Baltimore Ravens glory years, the Cowboys could be stuck between selecting a player they aren't enamored with or the prospect of trading down to restock their draft capital on Day 2 in rounds two or three.
There are also plenty of other league-wide ramifications from the Lawrence to Cincinnati trade, so let's take a look at a few other angles here.
Defensive tackles set to cash in?
Lawrence began his tenure with Cincinnati with all the leverage contractually speaking after the Bengals parted with the 10th overall pick in the upcoming draft to acquire his services. One of his main issues in New York was that the final two years of his four-year, $90 million contract were out of guaranteed money entering his age-29 season in 2026. That issue was remedied upon Lawrence passing his physical on Sunday: the Bengals re-signed the three-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle to a one-year extension worth $28 million in new money, per CBS Sports NFL insider Jonathan Jones. He's now locked in for the next three seasons after getting the raise he desired.
Lawrence becoming the NFL's second-highest paid interior defensive lineman ahead of his 29th birthday could help kickstart paydays at the position around the league. Tennessee Titans 2025 first team All-Pro Jeffery Simmons is in a similar spot as Lawrence, as he is also turning 29-years-old this year and is in a similar place with the final two years of his current four-year, $94 million pact. Unlike Lawrence, Simmons is fresh off the best year of his career after racking up a career-high 11.0 sacks. Philadelphia Eagles two-time Pro Bowler Jalen Carter, the ninth overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, is now extension eligible with three seasons played, and the defending NFC East champs can now lock down his services long term. The 2026 season is also the last of Dallas Cowboys four-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Quinnen Williams' contract with guaranteed money attached, so he'll be seeking a new contract in the near future ahead of turning 29-years-old on Dec. 21.
Highest-paid DTs in the NFL, Based on average per year salary
The Giants went 4-13 in 2025, marking their eighth time in the last nine seasons to lose double-digit games. Could their current rebuild, now led by a Super Bowl-winning head coach in John Harbaugh, be different as it is set to kick off with two top 10 picks in 2026?
First-round quarterback Jaxson Dart produced the highest passer rating, 91.7, by a rookie quarterback in franchise history in 2025, and he became just the second rookie in NFL history with 15-plus passing touchdowns (15) and 8-plus rushing touchdowns (9) in a debut season, along with 2011 Cam Newton. Nabers' 127 career catches are the second-most by a player through their first 19 games played in NFL history, behind only Odell Beckham Jr.'s 133 in his first 19 games. Running back Cam Skattebo was one of just five players with 400-plus rushing yards (410) and 200-plus receiving yards (207) at the time of his season-ending ankle injury in Week 8. The other four are some of the NFL's best backs: Christian McCaffrey, Bijan Robinson, Jonathan Taylor and De'Von Achane.
On defense, edge rusher Abdul Carter, the third overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, led all rookies in quarterback pressures with 71, which was 19 more than the next closest rookie. Edge rusher Brian Burns earned second team All-Pro honors in his age-27 season after ranking top-four in the league in sacks (16.5, second), quarterback hits (31, fourth) and tackles for loss (22, third). New York appears to have some of the bones of a decent, young core, and if they can hit on both of their top 10 picks, their return to the playoffs could be closer than people think.
Are the Bengals back in the AFC North and the AFC at large?
Outside of the Cowboys and the New York Jets, no one had a worse scoring defense in 2025 than the Bengals, who allowed the third-most points per game (28.9) in the entire league. Their defense was so rough that they became the first team since the 1966 Giants to lose consecutive games while scoring 38-plus points. However, with the addition of Lawrence, Cincinnati could be back in contention in the AFC North and the AFC at large after missing the postseason for the last three years.
Even during three postseason-less campaigns since 2023, quarterback Joe Burrow and wide receivers Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins powered the Bengals to a 24.6 points per game average in that span, the eighth-best in the NFL. That's rather impressive considering teams didn't have to defend the run much with the Bengals regularly playing from behind, thanks to their defense. Now, they might have a defense that could be around league average or slightly above that level after their slew of acquisitions on that side of the ball this offseason. CBS Sports' John Breech, our resident Cincinnatian, put together the chart below highlighting the five key defensive moves the Bengals have made this offseason.
Put those moves together with Burrow and Co. on offense, and the Bengals could be back. Lawrence is one of just six players with 300-plus tackles (341) and 100-plus quarterback hits (103) since he entered the NFL in 2019, with the other five being Quinnen Williams, Maxx Crosby, Brian Burns, Josh Hines-Allen and Montez Sweat. Lawrence is a legitimate impact player. Burrow is one of just six players in NFL history who average multiple passing touchdowns and 250-plus passing yards per game, with the other five being Patrick Mahomes, Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees and Andrew Luck. The Bengals have their cornerstones on both sides of the ball, and they were Super Bowl contenders when Burrow last had a competent defense, winning the AFC in 2021 and finishing as the AFC runner-up in 2022. Those days could be back again in 2026.
