John Harbaugh was brought into the New York Giants as part of a culture shift, but one vestige remains from the previous era: Making star players angry. Learning nothing from alienating Saquon Barkley, GM Joe Shoen is repeating history once more — this time with All-Pro nose tackle Dexter Lawrence.

Rumors had swirled in recent weeks that Lawrence and the Giants weren’t seeing eye-to-eye on a contract extension, but now it appears things are much, much worse. A new report from Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News states that all conversations between the Giants and Lawrence have broken off, with the organization now pivoting to teams to look into potential trade scenarios.

There will be no shortage of suitors for Lawrence, and with the NFL Draft being just over a week away, presumably every team looking for DL help could be in on the Giants’ star. These are the teams that make the most sense.

This one is a little tricky to work out and keep Chicago under the cap, but everyone around the NFL finds ways of subverting their cap figures by kicking the can down the road.

The Bears are an absolute lock to look for a defensive tackle early in the 2026 class, and being a playoff team in win-now mode dictates that sending away the N0. 25 pick for Lawrence would make an awful lot of sense for them. This is a team in dire need of help to stop the run, and Lawrence’s all-consuming presence in the middle would also open up pass rushing opportunities for Montez Sweat.

Chicago is still building out its defensive front, but Dexter Lawrence is a hell of a way to jumpstart that process.

There’s quite literally shared DNA here, opening the door for a Harbaugh-to-Harbaugh deal. Los Angeles has solid pass rushers who are utterly let down by their atrocious play in the middle of the line. While the team signed Dalvin Tomlinson as a stopgap solution, he’s really not good in the primary nose tackle role, with Lawrence being much, much better.

This is another playoff caliber team that could easily become a contender with just a move or two. Lawrence represents the kind of defensive shift needed to change everything.

The Panthers aren’t shy when it comes to making big moves, and there’s already trade history with the Giants from the Brian Burns deal in 2024. There have been a lot of pre-draft comments from the Panthers about finding more weapons for Bryce Young, and that could very well be the case — but that could be a lot of smoke coming out of Charlotte too.

Bobby Brown III is the weakest part of the Panthers defense now, and Dexter Lawrence could make Carolina absolutely terrifying. A line with Derrick Brown and Lawrence, set off by Jaelan Phillips rushing off the edge could make for one of the better units in the NFL.

It would be a bold play, but the Panthers are looking to win right now while their window is open in the NFC South. This move would achieve it.

Put this on the very edge of being possible, but you can never, ever count Jerry Jones out of a big move. Dexter Lawrence would give the Cowboys the run stopping they crave, and pairing him with Kenny Clark gives a lot of push on the inside to stop big plays.

The biggest stumbling block here is imagining the Giants trading Lawrence inside their own division. An inside the NFC East trade could lead to a tax on the deal that’s untenable, and Dallas is unlikely to be willing to offer the No. 12 pick in a deal.

The Titans are going through a culture shift right now and have an absolute boatload of cap space to make an extension happen. Anchoring their defensive line with Dexter Lawrence would be a huge boon for new coach Robert Saleh, but the question is compensation.

Giants fans can stop rubbing their hands together hoping for No. 4 overall — that isn’t happening. However, if the market for Lawrence is softer than expected, there might be a window to give up a high 2nd round pick in the deal. It makes a lot of sense for Tennessee, though it would be crushing for the Giants to lose a Pro Bowl DT and not get a 1st for him.

Are there any other teams you see being in a position to make a big deal for Dexter Lawrence?

Football is increasingly a game dictated by numbers.

The draft profile for Caleb Downs should begin there.

Let’s start with these numbers, from charting data collected while I studied his 2025 college football season. Downs played 208 snaps aligned as a half-field safety, with another 97 snaps aligned as a middle-of-the-field safety. The Ohio State defender aligned as a boundary cornerback for 50 more snaps, a slot corner for another 168 snaps, and even played 41 snaps down in the box.

But the pre-snap numbers are just a part of the story. A brief snapshot of a bigger picture.

After the snap, Downs rotated to the middle of the field for 232 of those plays, played as a deep boundary defender for 114 of those plays — including several where he began aligned in the slot or as a boundary corner — and spent many other either as the pole runner between the safeties, dropped down in the flat, or even rushing off the edge or through the interior.

Suffice it to say, Downs is one of the most versatile players in the 2026 NFL Draft.

Which might make him the best.

Downs began his college career at Alabama, playing under Nick Saban in his complex defensive system. But he stepped into the starting lineup as a freshman, recorded eight tackles in his debut, and ended the year as the SEC Freshman of the Year.

When Saban announced he was stepping away from the game, Downs entered the transfer portal, and made the move to Ohio State. All he did while with the Buckeyes was become a two-time unanimous All-American, the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, and the winner of both the Lott Trophy (given to a college defensive player “for their personal character and athletic abilities”) and the Jim Thorpe Award (given to the best defensive back in college football).

He also helped Ohio State win a title in 2024.

Studying Downs between the lines, while that versatility stands out where he is at his best is down in the box, particularly working in zone coverage with his eyes on the offense. Watching Downs put his experience under both Saban and Matt Patricia to use as he works through route concepts is a thing of beauty, and will translate extremely well to the next level.

Take this play against Texas where he is aligned to the right side of the offense, on the single receiver side:

This is a third-down play, with the Buckeyes dropping into zone coverage. Downs matches the vertical release of the single receiver, turning him loose when that receiver breaks to the inside. As that happens, the safety drops down on the crossing route, taking that away from Arch Manning.

When the quarterback breaks the pocket, Downs moves downhill slightly, but maintains a relationship to the back curling out of the backfield. That puts him in position to rally and tackle the back after the checkdown, forcing a fourth down for Texas.

Here is another example of this in action, also from his game against Texas. He begins the play aligned as a linebacker, but bumps out in response to motion. He matches the release from the #3 receiver, but then slides outside to take the out route from the #2 receiver:

Watch him on this play near the bottom of the screen, where he starts out in an inside alignment. He bumps out at the snap and matches the slant route from the outside receiver, but then peels off that and breaks on the checkdown from the running back:

One last example of this in action comes from Ohio State’s game against Penn State. He is again in the box, on the right side of the offense. He matches a vertical release initially, then works to a potential wheel route, but when the quarterback breaks the pocket he crashes downhill on the crossing route:

The pass is off the target, but if this was a good throw the receiver would have paid a price.

Putting Downs in situations where he has his eyes towards the offense not only plays to his prowess in zone coverage, but it emphasizes one of his strengths: Being a wrecking ball working downhill against both the run and the pass. Watch this play against UCLA, where he works out of the slot and blows up a designed throw to the flat:

Not only does Downs beat the blocker to the spot but he completely shuts this play down before it begins, chopping down the receiver for a loss on the play.

Here is a similar moment against Purdue, only this comes on a middle screen:

Downs begins this snap aligned across from the #3 receiver. Purdue motions the back out to the right, creating a “fast” 4×1, and Downs mirrors that movement pre-snap. But watch how he tracks the back and then explodes downhill, turning what could have been a huge gain into a short play for the offense.

“Screenshot scouting” is best used sparingly, but it fits here:

This is the state of play when the underneath throw is made. With three linemen releasing upfield, Purdue has a chance at a big play.

Then there is what he can do against the run. Watch him work downhill on this run against Washington, holding the running back to a minimal gain in the red zone:

This is textbook from Downs, as he works down to the edge, maintains outside leverage, and executes a pitch-perfect tackle in space.

Watch him read this play off the left side of the offense against Miami:

The safety reads this play better than the offense, slicing inside at the snap and hitting the back behind the line of scrimmage.

His ability against the run often starts with a perfect understanding of leverage. As with that example against Washington, watch him work outside-in on this snap against Illinois, where he begins the play aligned across from the single receiver on the left side of the offense:

Downs maintains outside leverage in relation to the running back, who initially thinks about bouncing this play to the outside. Only when the back commits inside does Downs make his move, breaking on the ballcarrier to hold this to a minimal gain.

Watch him “run the alley” on this snap against Ohio:

In man coverage situations, Downs was often tasked with matching tight ends, often players who were bigger than him. But he showed an ability to get to the hip of the receiver, often forcing throwaways or making the quarterback look in a different direction.

Like on this play against Minnesota, where he works through traffic to get to a crossing route on a mesh concept, forcing a late throwaway from the quarterback:

Downs is viewed by many as one of the best football players in the class, but the question is one of positional value. As a safety, he plays a “non-premium” position and his draft stock in many ways parallels what we saw from Kyle Hamilton when he came out of Notre Dame. While the two are different types of safeties — Hamilton’s versatility included more of deep safety role while Downs thrives in the box — the discussion is similar.

Hamilton fell to No. 14 in the draft, will Downs have a similar fall?

What could work in Downs’ favor is what we just saw from the Seattle Seahawks. Under Mike Macdonald the Seahawks changed the numbers in their favor on defense, playing with both safeties deep before the snap but relying on one of them to crash downhill when needed to stop the run.

You can imagine Downs thriving in such a role, and with Seattle coming off a Super Bowl win, do not be surprised to see other teams try and replicate what Macdonald built in the Pacific Northwest.

Downs might be one of the best players in the class.

And he might be coming out at the exact right moment.