Cincinnati Bengals Make Team, NFL Draft History With Unprecedented First-Round Pick Trade For Dexter Lawrence

The Bengals made major team history on Saturday night by striking a deal with the New York Giants to add three-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence to the 2026 squad.

It cost them a straight-up first-round pick in a one-for-one deal that ESPN's Field Yates and Adam Schefter added context to across the evening. According to Yates, the existing draft pick means Cincinnati won't pick in the first round for the first time since 1989, and Schefter noted it's the first time in the common draft era (since 1966) that the Bengals have traded a Top-10 pick.

It's also the first NFL trade of this kind in over 20 years.

A Historic Deal

Oct 26, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; New York Giants defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence (97) against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images | Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

"This is the first time a player has been traded without any additional compensation for a haul that included a Top-10 pick in that year's draft since the Vikings traded Randy Moss to the Raiders in 2005 in exchange for a haul that included the 7th overall pick that year, per ESPN research," Schefter posted on X.

It's a truly unprecedented move in unprecedented times for the Bengals, employing arguably the best passer in the NFL. When you have a player like Joe Burrow, it doesn't make any sense to wait around while he's playing this well.

Cincinnati had the salary cap space over the next few seasons and the right top asset to beat out all the other teams for a player that will change the face of the defensive front if he can recover well from an elbow injury last season.

There's little reason to think Lawrence won't be durable after playing 550-plus snaps in each of his first seven NFL seasons. Add in the fact that guys like Cameron Heyward this past season can play elite football as a defensive tackle at Age 36, and you get plenty of reason to think the high price could be worth it.

Lawrence has arguably been the best pass-rushing defensive tackle in the NFL this decade. He has the most pressures when aligned at nose tackle among any players since 2022 (107) and has been double-teamed the most of any DT since 2018. The man eats space and breaks through the blockades.

The cost of his pending new contract extension will also get offset a bit by the 10th pick salary Cincinnati would've dished out to the new young player joining on Thursday night. Salary cap expert Andre Perrota noted it won't be that much more expensive for how impactful Lawrence could be.

"Lawrence is signing an extension with Cincinnati as part of the trade," Perrota tweeted last night. "His pre-extension cash spend in 2026 is $20 million. So while he'll earn more than $20M in 2026 via his extension, the net cash spend for Cincinnati in 2026 swapping Pick #10 for Lawrence figures to be about +$10M or so."

It's obviously a risk to give up the 10th pick in this historic trade, but it's also a risk to take an unknown college talent. Lawrence offers plenty of defensive peace of mind en route to the Queen City.

This is the first time a player has been traded without any additional compensation for a haul that included a Top-10 pick in that year's draft since the Vikings traded Randy Moss to the Raiders in 2005 in exchange for a haul that included the 7th overall pick that year, per ESPN… https://t.co/ULKGL3Z3fd pic.twitter.com/2UzJIDnTV9
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 19, 2026

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