The Giants begin spring workouts Monday.
Defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence won’t be there — and that isn’t exactly surprising.
Lawrence, one of the Giants’ best players, deserves a new contract this offseason, coming off his impressive fourth season. There’s no way he should be willing to play on his fifth-year option in 2023.
In the meantime, Lawrence won’t report to East Rutherford on Monday, according to the Daily News.
But this isn’t the same as running back Saquon Barkley’s situation. (Barkley also won’t be reporting for the start of spring workouts.) There are a few key differences.
First of all, Lawrence is under contract for 2023. So he can be fined for skipping the mandatory portion of spring workouts/practices, though that’s just a three-day minicamp (June 13-15).
The rest of the Giants’ spring program is voluntary, including organized team activities practices that will be held May 22-23, May 25, May 30-31, June 2, June 5-6, and June 8-9. No player can be fined for skipping the voluntary portion of the spring — which is most of it.
Training camp, which begins in late July, is mandatory — just like the June minicamp. So a player in Lawrence’s situation (which is pretty much every player on an NFL roster) can be fined for skipping that or for skipping June minicamp.
Barkley cannot currently be fined for skipping any mandatory practices, because he has yet to sign his franchise tag. He technically isn’t even under contract with the Giants, so he’s not allowed in their training facility at all until he signs the tag or agrees to a long-term contract.
Barkley and the Giants have until July 17 to work out a long-term deal, or else he will play 2023 on a one-year contract for the tag figure ($10.091 million). Barkley is frustrated that he got tagged, which destroyed whatever leverage he had. Giants general manager Joe Schoen then publicly said he yanked Barkley’s contract offer, while making it clear Barkley won’t get big bucks in 2023.
Meanwhile, Lawrence’s fifth-year option figure is $12.407 million. But considering he established himself in 2022 as one of the NFL’s best interior defensive linemen, he shouldn’t be willing to play for the option money. He deserves more financial security than that.
And this has been a lucrative offseason for his position, with the Titans’ Jeffery Simmons most recently getting paid. Schoen said last month at the NFL’s Annual Meeting that he had begun contract talks with Lawrence’s camp, but nothing has been finalized.
“We’ve had good conversations with the representatives [for Lawrence],” Schoen said. “We’re in negotiations, and we’ll see if we can get something done.”
Lawrence obviously wants a long-term deal, and skipping at least the voluntary part of spring workouts/practices is one way to publicly express his frustration about not having received one. We’ll see if he also skips June minicamp and dares the Giants to fine him.
Bottom line: Schoen absolutely needs to pay Lawrence — a foundational player — this offseason. There’s no way he should let him play out the final year of his rookie contract in 2023.
Barkley, meanwhile, is more expendable — if only because he plays a less valuable position. For that reason (and others), sinking a lot of money into him makes less sense.
So quite clearly, Lawrence has more leverage than Barkley, who has pretty much zero leverage. That’s another key difference between these two situations.
Skipping voluntary spring workouts is, for the most part, typical negotiation posturing by a player. But Lawrence actually has leverage. That’s important to remember.
While the running back market has bottomed out — and Schoen has made it clear he’d be OK with Barkley playing on the tag in 2023 — the defensive tackle market has ballooned this offseason. Plus, Lawrence is more worth retaining than Barkley. It’s a lot easier to find a new running back than an elite interior defensive lineman.
Lawrence deserves Simmons-level money — if not more. Simmons got $94 million over four years ($23.5 million per year), with $66 million guaranteed.
So now, Simmons, Washington’s Daron Payne, and the 49ers’ Javon Hargrave (who came over from the Eagles) have gotten paid in the defensive tackle market this offseason. Simmons unsurprisingly got a much better deal than Payne and Hargrave — as Lawrence will.
Payne landed $22.5 million in average annual value, with a practical guarantee of $55.01 million. Hargrave got $21 million in average annual value, with $40 million practically guaranteed.
We’ll see what the true practical guarantee in Simmons’ deal is, but he surely is north of Payne and Hargrave. The question is: Will Lawrence wind up ahead of Simmons?
If nothing else, the Simmons deal raises the defensive tackle ceiling for guys like Lawrence. He’s not alone this offseason, in terms of elite players at his position who could get paid. The others are Quinnen Williams (Jets), Christian Wilkins (Dolphins), and Chris Jones (Chiefs).
Lawrence has established himself as a dominant interior defensive lineman. Now, it’s time for the Giants to pay him like one. Simmons, like Lawrence, was a first-round draft pick in 2019 — and Simmons now won’t play on his fifth-year option. Lawrence shouldn’t either.
From a football standpoint, Lawrence (or Barkley) won’t miss much if he skips the entire spring — even mandatory minicamp. Lawrence is an established veteran and rising star who has already had a season in coordinator Wink Martindale’s defense, so it’s not like he’s learning a new system. And all spring practices are no-pads, no-contact sessions. They’re not particularly meaningful.
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Plus, if the Giants pay Lawrence big bucks this offseason (which they surely eventually will) and he continues to thrive, no one will remember or care that he skipped these spring workouts.
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Darryl Slater may be reached at dslater@njadvancemedia.com.
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