Report details Bengals’ pre-trade contract work with Dexter Lawrence

The team acquiring Dexter Lawrence from the New York Giants via trade was always going to need to iron out his contract extension situation.

Turns out, the Cincinnati Bengals did that with Lawrence’s agent before filing the trade paperwork with the NFL.

According to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, the Bengals reached out to the Giants about a trade on April 7. The Giants wanted to keep Lawrence, but the two parties agreed to stay in touch.

Then, the Giants reached out to the Bengals last weekend and granted permission for the Bengals to speak with Lawrence’s agent, Joel Segal.

Breer detailed the scenario: “So on Saturday at about noon ET, the Giants called the Bengals back and told them that if the offer was still the 10th pick, then they’d have permission to talk with Segal about a contract. The Bengals and Segal had to work around the 12-month rule, which restricts what you can do for a year after restructuring, but ultimately struck a deal that would add a year and $28 million to the two years and $42 million remaining on Lawrence’s 2023 deal (making his contract with the Bengals, effectively, a three-year, $70 million deal).”

The Bengals had a deal with Segal agreed upon by 6:30 p.m. ET the same day, per the report. The trade went official with the NFL, physical pending, and so did Lawrence’s $28 million extension tacked onto the back of his two-year contract.

So, the Bengals got as far out in front of a contract extension situation as possible before the trade was even submitted to the league. That’s simple NFL front office 101 stuff, but good to hear about the team, nonetheless.