Giants Dexter Lawrence, head coach Brian Daboll react to contract extension

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The Giants locked up defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence to a four-year extension and on Friday morning, head coach Brian Daboll expressed his excitement for both the player and organization.

Lawrence was coming off a 2022 season where he had a career-high 7.5 sacks, seven tackles for a loss and 28 quarterback hits. The defensive tackle also registered 68 total tackles, three passes defended and two forced fumbles.

“Good to get Dexter done. Happy he’s back,” Daboll said before the start of rookie camp on Friday. “A good player for us. Good leader, good person. So congratulations to Dexter and happy for our organization as well.”

The Giants’ head coach said that he had already spoken to Lawrence both on Thursday and Friday and said that Lawrence was excited to get the deal out of the way. During Friday’s first day of rookie workouts, Daboll was seen hugging Lawrence.

Lawrence had not been attending the team’s offseason program while the two sides negotiated a deal, but was still under contract for another season with the Giants. The defensive tackle later said that he had been in contact with the coaching staff the whole time while negotiations had been taking place.

Lawrence and the Giants coming to terms seemed like an inevitability with general manager Joe Schoen indicating that talks had been going well. Now, New York has locked up one of the best players at his position for the foreseeable future and Lawrence became the third highest-paid DT in the NFL.

Dexter Lawrence is here on the sideline at rookie camp. Got a big hug from Daboll. #Giants pic.twitter.com/5peuzUvb3Q

— Christian Arnold (@C_Arnold01) May 5, 2023

“I didn’t have like a set number in mind or anything like that,” Lawrence said. “I just knew that I wanted to be respected for my production. And, you know, my leadership around here and everything else.”

The former first-round pick reiterated that he hadn’t been looking to set any records with his deal and the market was what it was. Lawrence had been down in Florida training when the deal was finally agreed upon this week.

He said it took him a moment to process what had happened. Lawrence had added that both his mother and “his lady” had been in town and he had the chance to celebrate with them.

“We got to do our little happy dance, so that was cool,” Lawrence said.

While it was all smiles that the deal was out of the way, the defensive tackle now has to go out and prove that he can replicate the career year that he had in 2022. The number he’ll be paid going forward certainly comes along with a lot of expectations for him, but Lawrence didn’t seem to be fazed by that.

The 25-year-old insisted that pressure wasn’t something that really got to him.

“I know who I am as a player and I know what I can do,” Lawrence said. “And I know if I’m on top of what I gotta do, everything takes care of itself. Master my craft, continue to do that. I don’t feel pressure going into games. I don’t feel pressure. This is obviously a big deal. But the pressure for me, it’s just I don’t see it as pressure. I embrace it. I embrace having to step up and you know, that’s what I’d take it as proving my worth. Continuing to do that and that’s just a stepping stone.”

With Lawrence’s contract out of the way, Saquon Barkley remains the last piece of in-house business that Schoen needs to take care of. The running back had not signed his franchise tender which means he is unable to attend the Giants’ offseason program until he does.

Lawrence seemed confident that Barkley would be able to get something worked out in time.

“I think Saquon is gonna get what he deserves,” Lawrence said. “He’s a great player, he’s a great leader for us. One of the top players on the team. I’m excited to see what’s up for him.”