Bengals make franchise history with Dexter Lawrence trade

The Cincinnati Bengals relinquished their 10th overall pick to land Dexter Lawrence Saturday. But the move with the New York Giants creates franchise history for Cincy.

Here’s the unprecedented mark the Bengals hit per ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter.

“A Bengals trade for Dexter Lawrence is unprecedented. This is the first time in the common draft era that dates back to 1966 in which the Bengals ever have traded a Top-10 pick for a player, per ESPN research,” Schefter posted on the social media website X, formerly Twitter.

Cincy gets aggressive ahead of the 2026 NFL Draft with this rare move. Past Bengals teams stood pat with their first selection. Especially when the team landed inside the top 10. Two recent examples are Ja’Marr Chase and Joe Burrow at No. 5 and No. 1 in 2021 and 2020, respectively.

But there’s more history the Bengals made per Schefter and ESPN. The huge Randy Moss/Oakland Raiders trade of 2005 got made “without any additional compensation” along with a top-10 pick in the haul, Schefter adds. The Minnesota Vikings gained the seventh overall pick in that deal.

But this Cincinnati/New York Giants move sent shockwaves ahead of draft week. Reactions sprouted online including from Bengals linebacker Demetrius Knight Jr.

Fellow ESPN NFL insider Field Yates dropped more clarity on why Cincy pulled off the move.

“The steep prices paid by the Bengals for Dexter Lawrence underscores two important points about this draft class: This is not a strong draft at the top,” Yates posted. “This draft is extremely thin at defensive tackle.”

Now the Bengals added one of the best DTs available, at the expense of surrendering their No. 10 pick.