Giants sign Dexter Lawrence to a 4-year, $90 million extension, per report

The New York Giants have signed defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence to a four-year, $90 million contract. The contract was first reported by from ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

The contract extension, which includes $60 million guaranteed, will lock the 26-year -old defensive tackle up through the 2028 season. The extension makes Lawrence one of the highest-paid defensive linemen in the NFL, slotting in just under DaRon Payne ($90 million, $60.02 million guaranteed) and Javon Hargrave ($84 million, $40 million guaranteed).

The contract is well deserved, as Lawrence finally broke out in 2022 after flashing his potential since the Giants drafted him with the 17th pick of the 2019 NFL Draft. Lawrence racked up 28 quarterback hits, 19 knockdowns, and 7.5 sacks to go with 68 tackles, 7 tackles for a loss, and 2 forced fumbles last year. He also finished fourth in ESPN’s pass rush win rate metric, beating his blocker in 2.5 seconds (or less) on 17 percent of his pass rushes.

Lawrence proved to be a central piece for the Giants’ defense, playing a career-high 864 defensive snaps (82 percent) and one of their most consistent players on either side of the ball.

His play earned him the first of what the Giants hope to be many All-Pro honors last year, and now made him one of the top-paid players at his position.

We don’t yet know the exact structure of Lawrence’s contract extension as of this writing, but it’s likely to be a back-loaded deal. The Giants are up against the salary cap, and extending Lawrence to lower in $12.4 million cap number has been seen as one of the best ways to free up cap space.