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Weighing the Merits of Bears Trading for Massive Dexter Lawrence

The New York Giants' defensive tackle has been dominant in the past and can't get satisfaction in his contract talks with a deal that doesn't expire until after 2027.
Gene Chamberlain|
Dexter Lawrence has Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love in his sites but can't catch him.
Dexter Lawrence has Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love in his sites but can't catch him. | Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

After Dexter Lawrence wrecked the Bears offense in 2022 and made two sacks of Justin Fields, Chicago offensive linemen spoke with complete reverence regarding the massive Giants defensive tackle.

This was one guy they didn't like seeing across from them, and more than one of them said this.

Now Lawrence is demanding a trade and the number of people on social media urging the Bears to make one to acquire him increases exponentially by the minute. The Bears, after all, do need some way to stop the run after finishing 28th and 29th in yards allowed per rush over the past two seasons. And they need someone to push the pocket back on the interior, something Lawrence definitely has done in the past.

Lawrence didn't merely push the pocket back. He caved it in and then made the sack.

Lawrence is 28 years old and turns 29 this season, is 6-foot-4, 340 pounds and is a player who doesn't just block the road with his size. He also flattens all of the cars on it. Lawrence made an average of 54.4 tackles a year over a five-year stretch. He also had 27 1/2 sacks in that period.

Who wouldn't want to add Godzilla to the front line?

The Bears shouldn't at the cost of giving up a first-round draft pick for him. Here's why.

Age

He turns 30 before his current contract expires. Once defensive tackles hit their seventh year, usually around 28 or 29, the decline usually starts. It's a tough position to play. The best thing to have is a dominant DT late in his first contract or early in his second. It's why you see players like Javon Hargrave and Jonathan Allen bouncing around from team to team after they hit a certain age.

Hargrave left the Eagles after an 11-sack season, made seven at age 30 with the 49ers and has had 4 1/2 the last two years.

Allen had 38 sacks in six-year period with Washington. He's had three and 3 1/2 sacks the last two years and is 31, going to his third team in three years.

Fact: Only 21% of defensive tackles in the NFL are 30 and older. It's a difficult position to play for a long time.

Injuries

Lawrence had a dislocated elbow and neck injury last year but play through them or a full schedule. He'd been relatively healthy free. The injuries seem to come easier as that big 3-0 approaches. The dislocated elbow actually occurred in 2024 and caused issues in 2025, which isn't exactly ideal.

Decline

He made half a sack in a full season for 2025, a career-low total coming off a career-high of nine in 2024. After he averaged 54.4 tackles for five years, Lawrence had a career-low 31 last year.

Scheme fit

Dennis Allen wants athletic defensive tackles in the 300-pound range. While Lawrence used to be that very rare athletic monstrosity, you have to wonder if this is still the case. It's not easy carrying around 340 for seven NFL seasons.

Allen did have a couple defensive tackles get over 320 with the Saints and it never worked out. Then, last year with the Bears he had 340-pound Andrew Billings and that didn't work out. It's not a hunker-down system but it's not attacking a gap. It's attack the blocker and then break off the block to the ball. Definitely Lawrence has the talent and athleticism to adjust but if you're going to give up a first-round pick wouldn't it be better to have a younger player who ideally fits the scheme?

Money

Lawrence is counting $27 million against the Giants' cap this season and $28 million next season. He's not in his contract year. A new team can restructure, but it becomes more difficult if you're talking about two years left. As for the Bears' cap, there's the biggest challenge of all.

They have no money now, at about $243,000 under the cap per Overthecap.com. In 2027, when they need to be actually formulating that massive Caleb Williams contract extension, they have only $44.6 million available now and that's 21st in cap space. They've avoided restructuring deals so far but will probably have to do it to get through this year, and if Darnell Wright's new contract is coming this year some of it needs to come out of this cap and next year's.

Taking on a massive cash ordinance like $27 million or more isn't in the budget unless you jettison some big-dollar players who they may actually need. What's the point of adding Lawrence if players they need, like Joe Thuney, Jonah Jackson, Jaylon Johnson or Montez Sweat, must go to bring in another player?

It's often said there is no real salary cap in the NFL. It's said by those who don't have to manage it, like fans, media members and bloggers.  It’s said by players and agents because they benefit if they can convince everyone of this.

It does exist, there is the ability to maneuver at times, but in the end the best way to handle it is by drafting your own talent and not bringing in mercenaries who whine and threaten not to go to their team's off-season workouts because they don't like the way contract talks are going.

That, by the way, is exactly what Lawrence is doing.

Good, better, best, except for our defensive tackle who likes to do as he pleases in the offseason doesn’t quite sound like good old “good, better, best.”

Bottom line

Use the first-round pick instead of living in fantasy land. No one even knows if it would take a first-round pick or more, anyway, because the Giants haven't said they're planning to trade their disgruntled player.

Lawrence would have been a great player to have about three years ago. If you can find that player out there somewhere, then it's a fantastic move. Usually, it's not possible to go back in time.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.

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