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The Bengals were urged to trade for Dexter Lawrence

The Chicago Bears are a candidate to trade for defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence ahead of the NFL draft, but one insider doesn’t believe that the two-time All-Pro is headed anywhere.

Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated wrote on Monday, April 13 that despite Lawrence’s bid for a trade from the New York Giants, he will be lining up for new head coach John Harbaugh’s defense come Week 1 in September.

“The Giants will either extend the 28-year-old, who is coming off a bit of a down year, or they will guarantee a portion of his pay and add meaningful incentives,” Breer wrote. “As I see it, this shouldn’t be too complicated, and I don’t see the Giants moving Lawrence unless some other team goes way off-script with a trade offer. New York already has the makings of a really good defensive front. No need to mess with that.”

Bears Would Have to Blow Giants Away to Acquire Dexter Lawrence in Trade

GettyNew York Giants defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence.

Lawrence has been hunting a pay raise for two offseasons after inking a four-year contract extension worth $87.5 million in May 2023.

But Breer noted that Harbaugh values winners in the trenches on both sides of the football. And despite his “down year,” which included just 0.5 sacks after a career-high nine sacks in 2024, Lawrence still ranked as the ninth-best interior defender last season, according to advanced metrics from Pro Football Focus.

Harbaugh is walking into a team with a ready-made edge rush, and trading an elite player on a good contract just to avoid some turmoil isn’t much of a strategy unless the asset(s) coming back comprise an offer simply too good to ignore.

Chicago could put up its first-round pick (No. 25 overall), but that’s a hard deal to make in the Windy City when the Bears can select a starting defensive tackle or safety in that spot who will play on a cost-controlled rookie contract for the next four or five years.

The other type of trade offer that could potentially work is one of Chicago’s second-rounders (No. 57 or 60) along with its fourth-round pick (No. 129). However, based on Breer’s assessment, a combination of two of those assets may not be enough to entice the Giants to give in to Lawrence’s demands.

Bears Have Shown Restraint All Offseason to This Point

GettyLas Vegas Raiders pass-rusher Maxx Crosby.

A Lawrence trade would unequivocally be a win-now move by the Bears. And while one can argue Chicago is a win-now team after a 12-5 campaign in 2025 that included an NFC North Division title and a playoff victory, the franchise brass has not behaved as such this offseason.

The Bears have been measured in their additions, with the biggest free agent signing coming in the form of safety Coby Bryant to a $40 million deal across three years.

Chicago didn’t make a mega offer for edge-rusher Maxx Crosby when he was on the market. The team didn’t pay Tyler Linderbaum a record amount in free agency after center Drew Dalman unexpectedly retired. And the Bears haven’t panicked and overpaid for a player like Rasheed Walker or Taylor Decker to replace the injured Ozzy Trapilo at left tackle.

Everything the organization has done this offseason has been calculated and understated, perhaps even too much so. As such, flipping a late first-round pick for an expensive player at a non-premier position does not profile like a move the Bears were likely to make anyway.

And that Breer doesn’t believe the Giants are interested in moving Lawrence either more or less seals the deal on the trade speculation — at least for now.