Dexter Lawrence requests trade from Giants in pre-draft bombshell

Dexter Lawrence delivered the first major blow to the sunny John Harbaugh era.

Lawrence requested a trade from the Giants and will skip the voluntary portion of the offseason program beginning Tuesday because two years of contract extension negotiations have gone nowhere, The Post confirmed.

It’s a significant reversal by Lawrence, who told The Post before last season that he envisioned his name in the Giants Ring of Honor when asked about potentially wasting his prime going through rebuild after rebuild.

But Lawrence’s power play has been brewing for a while given there is no guaranteed money remaining in the final two years of the four-year, $90 million extension he signed in 2023. He is due $20 million in salary and bonuses in 2026, and that’s “just not reasonable,” one league source said.

Lawrence’s contract quickly became outdated by an exploding defensive tackle market that now ranks him 12th in average annual value at the position — behind the Eagles’ Jordan Davis (three years, $78 million) and the Patriots’ Milton Williams (four years, $104 million). Neither Davis nor Williams is a Pro Bowler, while Lawrence is a three-time Pro Bowler and two-time second-team All-Pro.

There is a significant gap between Davis and Williams, who average $26 million per year, and the Chiefs’ Chris Jones, the highest-paid defensive tackle, at $31.7 million. That provides a big range Lawrence could fall into with a four-year, $110 million extension, one agent projected.

One source close to Lawrence, 28, cited his contract, consistent losing throughout his career and frustrations with roster management — including the hard-line tactics taken with his close friends Leonard Williams, Julian Love and Saquon Barkley, all of whom have won Super Bowls since leaving New York — as reasons for his discontent.

A year ago, after Lawrence had a career year in 2024 but missed the last five games with an elbow injury, he was rewarded with a tweak in his contract, as the Giants added the chance for him to make $3 million in incentives. Lawrence started all 17 games in 2025 and earned $1 million in incentives.

Since then, there have been no new discussions about an enhanced deal for Lawrence, and the Giants do not seem eager to do much, or anything, with Lawrence, given his lackluster production and questions about his conditioning last season.

Will they actively shop him? Not at this point. If the phone rings, they will answer. The stance seems to be Lawrence has two years remaining on his contract.

“Dex is probably the best player I’ve ever played with,” Love told The Post at Super Bowl 60. “I want him to continue to get that shine, but I know it’s hard for those guys over there to lose. Cream always rises. Hopefully, Dex can make the best out of any situation. Hopefully, they turn it around over there for him.

“I talk to him. He shows up every day, deals with a lot and through it all never makes it about himself. It’s so easy to go that way, and Dex has never gone that way. I think that needs to be appreciated and respected. He’s the same person every day through dark times — only the 1 percent of the 1 percent are able to do that.”

New head coach John Harbaugh has raved about Lawrence. He will speak to the media again Tuesday.

“He’s super, super important,” Harbaugh said about Lawrence in February. “He’s a cornerstone football player — not really a cornerstone, more like the middle stone. He’s a very big stone, and he’s a very active, athletic one.”

The Jets received a first-round pick, a second-round pick and former first-round pick Mazi Smith in an October trade for Pro Bowl defensive tackle Quinnen Williams. Could Lawrence command a similar package, especially given the 2026 draft class is light on first-round defensive tackles?

“He’s a better player,” one talent evaluator told The Post, “so yeah.”

The difference is Lawrence is seeking a new contract and Williams was not.

“A late first-round pick plus a Day 2 pick in 2027,” one executive said when asked for fair value.

The leverage lies with Lawrence because defensive tackle is arguably the weakest spot on the roster — virtually untouched through free agency — even with him in the mix. Without Lawrence, the Giants are left with journeyman Roy Robertson-Harris and unproven Darius Alexander as starters.

The Giants are hungry to end a narrative that most of their best homegrown players leave and improve.

But it’s a sticky situation because Lawrence has only a half-sack in his past 22 games, after 21.5 in a 44-game stretch from 2022-24.

Lawrence and then-position coach Andre Patterson vehemently defended his play by pointing out Lawrence is the NFL’s most frequently double-teamed player.

“For the last three years he’s been the best interior lineman in the league,” one source said. “Last year you may say was an off year, but he’s still double-teamed [more than 50] percent of the time. GMs in the NFC East, they’re scared of him, they scheme for him, he’s the best player.”

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