Dexter Lawrence Breaks Silence on Giants Exit: Why He’s 'Excited' to Join Bengals

Dexter Lawrence made his first public comments about his future since the end of last season.

Former New York Giants defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Dexter Lawrence is rejuvenated after joining the Cincinnati Bengals via trade from the New York Giants on Saturday night.

Lawrence, who passed his physical with the Bengals and signed a contract extension reported to be for one year and $28 million, sat down with Dan Hoard of the Bengals in-house media to discuss the blockbuster trade that saw the Giants part with their longest tenured defensive player in exchange for the No. 10 overall pick in this year’s draft.

“It's been a long process, but once I heard Cincinnati was in that option, I got excited immediately, to play with guys like (receiver) Jamar (Chase) and (quarterback) Joe (Burrow) and alongside my best friend (former Giants defensive lineman) BJ (Hill),” Lawrence told Hoard.

“God got me through it, and right now I'm ready to let my light shine and, and, and go win some games.”

Winning was unfortunately not something that Lawrence experienced much during his seven seasons with the Giants, who drafted him No. 17 overall back in 2019, using a pick they acquired from the Cleveland Browns in the Odell Beckham Jr. trade that offseason.  

Lawrence and the Giants enjoyed just one winning season, that in 2022, when the club went 9-7-1 and reached the postseason for the first time since 2016, while also winning its first postseason game since the 2011 playoff run.

Otherwise, the Giants racked up a 36-80-1 overall record during Lawrence’s tenure, in which he was part of a club that had two different general managers (Dave Gettleman, who drafted him, and Joe Schoen), and three different head coaches (Pat Shurmur, Joe Judge, and Brian Daboll).

Lawrence, who was widely believed to have soured on the Giants due to the losing and the handing of the roster under Schoen in which teammates such as defensive lineman Leonard Williams, safety Julian Love, safety Xavier McKinney, running back Saquon Barkley, and quarterback Daniel Jones all went on to enjoy success–and big pay days–with other teams, admitted that the losing started to weigh on him.

“It weighs on you a little bit, but I'm optimistic,” Lawrence confessed. “I'm not naive, always thinking it's going to be a ‘W,’ we're gonna do this. That's, you know, the case of being a pro: you gotta stay consistent, and if you're doing the right things and taking care of your business the right way, things fall into place.”

Such was not the case last year for Lawrence, who reportedly arrived at training camp overweight and not in optimal condition. His sluggish start and overall play drew sharp criticism from Giants legend Carl Banks, who opined that opponents no longer respected Lawrence.

Lawrence, who didn’t take kindly to Banks’s criticism, which came in what was the statistically worst year of the defensive lineman’s career, nestled into another frustrating Giants losing streak, fired back by calling Banks “delusional.”

With his Giants era now behind him, Lawrence will set about re-establishing himself as one of the premier interior defensive linemen, while the Giants will use the draft pick they received to continue building their roster with players willing to come in and be a part of the program that new head coach John Harbaugh is looking to put in place.

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