Dexter Lawrence Says He Has ‘Burning Fire’ in Him After Trade to Bengals

Dexter Lawrence is excited to be a new Cincinnati Bengal.

The Bengals acquired the veteran nose tackle by trading their 10th overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft to the New York Giants. One of the most disruptive interior defensive linemen in the NFL, Lawrence joins a retooled Bengals defensive front looking to dramatically elevate its presence and return the Bengals to the playoffs.

At his introductory press conference on April 20, he said his previous season gave him some perspective, but lit a fire under him to go out and dominate on the field.

“It was a long process,” Lawrence said of his prolonged contract negotiations with the Giants and eventual trade request. “It was stressful. It’s like somebody was just hanging me from a string, ’cause I didn’t know anything.”

He stressed that he had nothing but love for the Giants organization, but had to make a decision that was best for himself and his family.

Lawrence was drafted by the Giants out of Clemson with the 17th overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. In seven years with the Giants, he established himself as one of the league’s premier interior defenders. His breakout season came in 2022: he had 68 total tackles, 7 tackles for loss, 7.5 sacks, and 28 quarterback hits.

In 2024, he had 9 sacks—tied for 18th among all players in the NFL—in just 12 games, before an elbow injury cut his season short. But he crashed back to earth in 2025: despite playing all 17 games, he had just 31 total tackles, 4 TFLs, just half a sack, and 8 QB hits.

Lawrence’s elbow injury carried over into 2025, but he said that wasn’t the cause of his decline; instead, it was offensive lines adjusting to his presence. Either way, the decline humbled him.

“I think I needed it, last season,” he said. “It became a perspective for me. I needed that season to get to where I am now, and this passion that I have now.”

Despite a down year, Lawrence was in the final year of his contract and looking for another long-term extension with the Giants. Instead, he signed a one-year $28 million extension with the Bengals.

Lawrence now adds to the Bengals defensive line, which includes veteran DT Jonathan Allen and Super Bowl LX champion edge rusher Boye Mafe. He also joins his former Giants teammate, DT B.J. Hill.

“We [are] the best athletes on the field,” he joked of the D-line. “You need that presence up front. That’s where the action starts. It starts up front. And when you can have a dominant defensive line with a dominant attitude and presence, it can take over a game.” 

With the retooled D-line, newly signed safety Bryan Cook will look to help elevate a Bengals defense that ranked 31st in the league in yards allowed per game and 30th in points allowed per game. The defense will also look to elevate a Bengals squad that has faltered in recent years. The Bengals were AFC Champions in 2021, and returned to the conference championship in 2022, but went 9-8 in both 2023 and 2024 before falling to 6-11 in 2025.

“It’s a big emphasis, and they brought in a lot of defensive guys,” he said. “And that’s what you do when you want to win. You fix the problems. And that was a problem. I had dinner with Cook last night and [safety Jordan] Battle and B.J and a couple of O-linemen. They’re funny. It just felt good. It felt [like] home. Everybody, they wanted me here. They [were] in here talking, like, ‘We need to get that guy.’ So, it felt good to be wanted, and I’m ready.”

Lawrence was also asked how it feels to take on the pressure of trying to return the Bengals to contender status.

“I can’t explain it,” he said. “I get a little tense when somebody asks me that. And it’s this burning fire that—for them to bring me in the way they did and give up what they did, I owe it to them to go out there and dominate on that field, and that’s what I plan on doing.”