A potential Minnesota Vikings trade for Dexter Lawrence is a fascinating one that has multiple significant roadblocks
The Minnesota Vikings have been linked to New York Giants defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence for the better part of the last 18 months. He is now on the trading block, but facilitating one will be difficult.
The needs for the Minnesota Vikings going into the NFL Draft are relatively straightforward. The defensive line and secondary are the biggest of them all, and one of the best players in the NFL has requested a trade.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that New York Giants defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence has requested a trade.
Lawrence, who is 29 years old, has two years remaining on his contract with $20 million in cash due in 2026 and $22 million in 2027. The Vikings could have a serious interest in adding Lawrence to their defense, but there are potential complications to making it work.
Vikings trading for Dexter Lawrence is complicated
In theory, trading for Lawrence makes all the sense in the world. They have a massive hole on the defensive line after releasing both Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave. To this day, they haven’t added a single player in free agency on the defensive line, leaving two starting spots open.
Adding Lawrence would fill one of them immediately. However, getting there would be difficult. It starts with the salary cap situation. The Vikings currently have just $4.8 million in salary cap space, which means they can’t make a trade happen. In order to facilitate a trade, either the Giants will have to eat a large amount of the cash owed to him, or the Vikings have to maneuver with the salary cap by trading Jonathan Greenard, extending Brian O’Neill, or both.
After that hurdle is cleared, things continue to be difficult. First comes the potential extension. Lawrence is on a four-year, $90 million contract, valued at $22.5 million per year. That ranks him tied for 11th in average annual value. Chris Jones of the Kansas City Chiefs is first at $31.75 million, with second being Milton Williams of the New England Patriots and Jordan Davis of the Philadelphia Eagles at $26 million per year.
Giving Lawrence an extension is part of the deal, which will likely drop the asking price down somewhat. In October of 2024, I wrote about a potential Lawrence trade with a relatively high asking price.
What is a fair price for the Vikings to pay? With players at the top of their respective positions going for multiple first-round picks, that would be the jumping-off point. However, it would be a major precedent for an interior defensive lineman to go for two first-round picks. Tyreek Hill went for less than that. However, it would certainly be more than one.
This would be both a win-now move and one to set them up for a stretch run under J.J. McCarthy for the next few years. Is that enough to trade away major assets? That’s the million dollar question, but nobody would fault Adofo-Mensah if he went for it.
One thing to keep in mind when it comes to trade compensation: as much as we think we know about the market, nobody really knows what a player will go for. Surprises happen all the time.
Projected trade compensation: Vikings send 2025 first round pick and 2026 first and fourth round picks to the Giants for Dexter Lawrence and a 2025 second round pick
Tyler Forness
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With Lawrence two years older, that asking price will likely drop a little bit. SNY’s Connor Hughes believes that will be the value of a late first-round pick.
The difficult thing about the Vikings making that trade is how much they need to build depth through the NFL Draft. Giving away those picks would be a bold move by an interim general manager, but it’s certainly one to watch for.
