{"id":685616,"date":"2026-05-21T17:47:21","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T17:47:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/685616\/"},"modified":"2026-05-21T17:47:21","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T17:47:21","slug":"this-deal-could-be-disastrous-nfl-analyst-still-blown-away-by-bengals-bold-trade-for-28m-all-pro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/685616\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018This Deal Could Be Disastrous\u2019 \u2014 NFL Analyst \u2018Still Blown Away\u2019 by Bengals\u2019 Bold Trade for $28M All-Pro"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Cincinnati Bengals made the most aggressive move of their franchise\u2019s modern history when they sent the No. 10 overall pick of the 2026 NFL Draft to the New York Giants<\/a> for All-Pro defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The deal came with a one-year, $28 million extension that locks Lawrence in through the 2028 season. It is a clear signal that Cincinnati<\/a> is going all-in around Joe Burrow<\/a> for the Super Bowl. However, not everyone views the trade as a stroke of genius. ESPN\u2019s Bill Barnwell raised pointed concerns about the cost, the timing, and the player himself.<\/p>\n

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Why Bill Barnwell Sees Risk in the Bengals\u2019 Dexter Lawrence Trade<\/p>\n

Barnwell framed the deal in historical terms, noting that trading a known top-10 pick for a veteran has happened only twice in the past 25 years, with the Oakland Raiders doing so for Randy Moss and the Denver Broncos<\/a> for Russell Wilson<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Both moves didn\u2019t turn out to be well for the Raiders and the Broncos, which is why it isn\u2019t certain that the Bengals will get the best out of Lawrence.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m still blown away that a team traded a known top-10 pick for a veteran for only the third time in the past 25 years,\u201d Barnwell said.<\/a> \u201cI\u2019m nervous that Lawrence is coming off his worst season as a pro as part of a defense that was dismal against the run in New York. And though that can partially be chalked up to an elbow injury, Lawrence\u2019s 2024 season was ended by that same elbow issue.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cGiven how much they\u2019re spending on their big three on offense (Burrow, Ja\u2019Marr Chase, and Tee Higgins<\/a>) and a handful of other players, the Bengals need cost-controlled talent to make their roster construction work,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

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\u201cGiving up the No. 10 pick to get a proven quantity like Lawrence feels like a win for Bengals fans who are sick of seeing the team whiff on first-round picks,\u201d Barnwell continued. \u201cBut is it enough to propel the Bengals forward into Super Bowl contention? And if Lawrence isn\u2019t as known of a quantity as it seems, this deal could be disastrous for Cincinnati.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The concern is backed by stats, as Lawrence recorded a career-low 0.5 sacks in 2025, a dramatic drop from his career-high 9.0 sacks in just 12 games the season before.<\/p>\n

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Giants general manager Joe Schoen also admitted at the combine<\/a> that Lawrence\u2019s lingering elbow injury, which originally ended his 2024 campaign, was a factor throughout the 2025 season.<\/p>\n

However, the Bengals were under pressure to make a big move to keep Burrow happy. After losing Trey Hendrickson<\/a> in free agency, Cincinnati needed another star player on defense, and they did by trading for Lawrence.<\/p>\n

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According to PFSN\u2019s DT Impact Metric<\/a>, here is how Lawrence has ranked in the last four seasons:<\/p>\n

2022: 84.5 impact score, ranked 16th at his position.<\/p>\n

2023: 90.2 impact score, ranked 5th at his position.<\/p>\n

2024: 82.1 impact score, ranked 19th at his position.<\/p>\n

2025: 77.3 impact score, ranked 38th at his position.<\/p>\n

Whether the trade for Lawrence works out remains to be seen, but the Bengals\u2019 offseason moves have certainly made Burrow confident about the team. \u201cWe\u2019re going to go win a lot of games this year and play great and win a Super Bowl,\u201d the Bengals quarterback said recently.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Cincinnati Bengals made the most aggressive move of their franchise\u2019s modern history when they sent the No.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":685617,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[559],"tags":[64,63,5360,140919,10027,1256,55397,629,1242,593,1275,85,627,1259],"class_list":["post-685616","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-bengals","tag-bill-barnwell","tag-cincinnati","tag-denver-broncos","tag-dexter-lawrence","tag-joe-burrow","tag-new-york-giants","tag-nfl","tag-russell-wilson","tag-sports","tag-tee-higgins","tag-trey-hendrickson"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/685616","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=685616"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/685616\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/685617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=685616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=685616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=685616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}