Count Cincinnati Bengals left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. an advocate for trading Dexter Lawrence from the Big Apple to the Queen City.

“Dexter Lawrence is a baller, and, I mean, I think he’d be even more of a baller in orange and black,” Brown said in an interview with Kay Adams. “I think it’d be great. You know, he definitely will make our football team better. And to be honest, it’s not a lot of teams he wouldn’t make better, man. He’s a special talent.”

Lawrence notably requested a trade from the New York Giants last week. The three-time Pro Bowl nose tackle has no more guaranteed money left in his contract.

Cincinnati has already addressed the defensive tackle position by signing Jonathan Allen in free agency. What would it look like for Brown to get his wish? It would take something the Bengals would find uncomfortable.

What would it cost the Bengals to trade for Dexter Lawrence?

The short answer is draft capital. Notable draft capital. ESPN’s Jordan Raanan reports the expected compensation in a Lawrence trade would be a late first-round pick or an early second-round pick.

Cincinnati holds the No. 10 overall pick in the first round, and the No. 41 overall pick in the second round. No. 10 would be too rich, and No. 41 may not be early enough in the second round. Giving up No. 41 and maybe a late-round pick seems fairly simple from the Bengals’ side of things, but it’s never that simple.

Trading a single draft pick for a player is an incredibly rare event for Cincinnati, let alone two picks. The Bengals almost always negotiate as many picks coming back their way in the exchange, or simply offer a player of their own. Khalil Herbert (2024), Ryan Fitzpatrick (2008), and Paul Justin (1998) are the only examples in the last 30 years, and none of the picks they gave up were any higher than a fifth-rounder.

Lawrence would instantly be one of Cincy’s four best players on the entire roster along with Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, and Tee Higgins. None of those three are tradable. A lesser player could be the sweetener along with No. 41, but a straight-up player-for-player swap doesn’t seem possible here.

Trading a disgruntled star player is also only half the battle. Even if Cincy gives up, for example, picks No. 41 and No. 189 all the way in the sixth-round, Lawrence’s contract would still be the problem he faces. He’s requesting a trade because of the money, not because of the team itself. Paying him once he’s a Bengal may be an even bigger problem.

Lawrence wants what the Bengals don’t like to give

If you don’t know by now, Cincinnati is vehemently against including future guaranteed money in its contracts. Burrow and Chase are lone exceptions on the roster as those two had unprecedented leverage against the front office.

The Bengals going out of their way to trade for a player expecting guaranteed money in a new deal is simple asinine to comprehend.

Lawrence signed a four-year, $90 million deal with $46.5 million of it guaranteed. He wants a raise from that $22.5 million Average Annual Value (AAV), and the security of being on the team for multiple years. Guaranteed money will help ensure the latter.

The very top of the defensive tackle market is Chris Jones’ AAV of $31.75 million. Underneath him is probably where Lawrence is looking to land. Milton Williams and Jordan Davis each have deals with an AAV of $26 million.

Are the Bengals going to pay a soon-to-be 29-year old north of $26 million a year with multiple years of guaranteed money? No. Absolutely not. You can troll me endlessly if the opposite occurs, but we just watched this saga unfold with Trey Hendrickson. The ending of it tells us what to expect with other situations.

Brown is right. Lawrence would be a huge addition to Cincinnati. The concept of bringing him here knowing how the team operates is also more fantasy than anything.