Assessing Whether the 49ers Could Trade for Dexter Lawrence

The New York Giants are reportedly listening to trade offers for nose tackle Dexter Lawrence. While the San Francisco 49ers appear unlikely to pursue this deal, it will stop the speculation from coming in surrounding the star defender.

Would the San Francisco 49ers make this trade for Dexter Lawrence?

Moe Moton of Bleacher Report listed the five teams most likely to acquire Lawrence, along with the deals that get the job done. He listed the 49ers as a potential suitor.

New York Giants Receive: 2026 2nd-rounder, 2026 4th-rounder and WR Brandon Aiyuk

San Francisco 49ers Receive: DT Dexter Lawrence II

In March, the 49ers made a move to beef up the interior of their defensive front, trading a 2026 third-rounder to the Dallas Cowboys for Osa Odighizuwa.

Perhaps San Francisco isn't done trying to revamp the unit under new defensive coordinator Raheem Morris. Keep in mind that Alfred Collins had a quiet rookie campaign, logging 17 tackles (one for loss) and a sack.
Mo Moton

There are three major issues with this logic. First, reports are that the Giants are looking for a late first- or early second-round pick for Lawrence. A fourth and Brandon Aiyuk is better than a late second round pick, but picking 58th overall is a lot different than 33rd overall, even if both are considered a second round pick. A fourth, and Aiyuk is not going to get the 49ers to be able to trade up from 58 to much higher than 50, let alone make the pick worth high second-round status.

The next issue is attaching Aiyuk. On paper, this has value and could bump what the second-round pick is worth. However, in reality, Aiyuk has a salary that the Giants need to take on, and the team cannot even guarantee that he would want to play for them. John Harbaugh does not seem like the type to want to add a player like Aiyuk, so the team probably sees him as a hindrance and a negative in draft value, not a solid throw-in.

San Francisco 49er — Eric Canha-Imagn Images

The 49ers would either need to trade their first-round pick or add a lot more draft capital than what is currently being discussed. The third issue is that the 49ers would not want to do that. Moton mentions Collins' stats as an issue, but does not recognize that Collins is a nose tackle whose job is to take up space so that others can get cleaner looks to the backfield.

He was not great, but he did his job well, and he is a former second-round pick. The 49ers are not going to give up on him. Of course, Lawrence is an upgrade from Collins, but the cost that they would have to pay just to push a starter-caliber player out of the mix would not make sense.

If, for some reason, the Giants want to take less than what other teams are offering and take the Aiyuk salary off the 49ers' hands, this deal can make sense. That is asking a lot of the Giants to make life easy for the 49ers.