Nate

I’m absolutely in the minority but I would love to extend Kayvon at a reasonable number He’s unlikely to accept any deal right now cause he wants to increase his value, of course. But if at any point we can get him on a reasonable deal, I’m all for it His splash plays have lessened but he is a rock steady edge defender and is low key a good run defender. Also, his positive attitude has never wavered. That feels important right now

Good. I don’t want some day 3 pick or late Rd 3 if lucky for a player who if they don’t re-sign will prob land them a Rd 3 or 4 compensatory pick. I want a player who can help the Giants win NOW. They lost enough talent trading Dex. Kayvon had good tape before the injury.

@DDuggan21 Dan if Lawrence has a good season, which I expect him to, he’s going to want to rip this deal up next offseason.

Dex was due $42M over the next two years on his original contract. That only increases to $47M per the terms reported here. That’s a very light commitment for the Bengals. Could end up being a win for all parties invoved

Valid for sure. I’m also not gung ho about trading him cause we’re absolutely not getting anyone better than Dex in any trade. Maybe I’m in the minority but I’d prefer the Giants amend Dex’s deal to give him a bunch of guarantees on what he does have left I get that it takes two to tango but it gives him the security that he doesn’t have right now And with two years left on his deal, he actually has kinda no leverage (?)

@YankeesOutsider I hear that but the flip side of it is he wasn’t that bad in 2025. He just wasn’t the same. He was doubled more than any player and the defense was significantly worse without him. Also, if they move on it could crush the 2026 defensive upside of the talent already on roster

This doesn’t make it sound like he’ll be on the Giants in 2026. This was handled poorly. A player of his caliber should’ve never been made to feel like the org is not 100% behind him not after a “down” year that wasn’t really down on tape & not based on when he signed a contract.

Insightful breakdown of the situation One thing I keep coming back to is that Dex has played his hand in a bizarre manner. If there is so much bad blood that he’ll NEVER play for us again, why didn’t this rear its head sooner than now? From a business perspective, he has not necessarily returned above & beyond value on the extension he signed. His current deal is 2 years of the way through, and in that time he’s had an excellent (but injury shortened) 2024 and an empty stat, solid impact (but seemingly low effort) 2025 He can “feel” however he wants to feel, but it’s hard to justify he’s the top DL in the game like he wants his paycheck to reflect

Everyone is understandably caught up in the moment-to-moment drama of the Dex standoff. But let’s play this out. The team’s stance is clearly that there’s two years left on the deal so they don’t have to do anything. That’s true. But what’s the end game with a player who is clearly extremely unhappy? Hard to imagine him showing up in West Virginia ready to enthusiastically participate in camp without a new contract. So they can have a respected team leader being a malcontent in the locker room and then likely have another subpar season. Then what next offseason when his trade value will have plummeted? Or maybe Dex blinks first and shows up ready to prove the Giants wrong for not valuing him. He has a dominant season, which is obviously beneficial for the Giants in 2026, but what does that do to his asking price next offseason with only one year remaining on his deal? This is why I’ve said from the jump the only thing that matters is their evaluation of who he is as a player now and in the future. It’s obvious that the team doesn’t like that he’s trying to force their hand. Again, I think Schoen is too consumed with “winning” the negotiation (which has contributed to some of the acrimony with Dex). But like it or not, all the leverage or not, the best thing for them to do is act sooner than later. His value is going to be in a significantly different place a year from now, for better or worse. And it’ll be a painful road to that point that they’d be best served avoiding in what’s supposed to be a new era.

Why adios? Why would we trade him? It’s career suicide if he wants to sit out 2 years. I happily advocate for the giants to update the guarantees on his remaining salary as a happy “meet in the middle”. But brass tacks, the giants hold the leverage. We sucked with him, we can suck with him holding out!

Dexter Lawrence willingly signed a 5 year deal then asked out after year 3 when he was coming off a year where the Giants had the worst defense in the NFL. And he had half a sack. Love Dex but adios. Harbaughs here now. If you don’t want to be here he’ll find someone who does.

@DanSchneierNFL A couple of days late - I love Sonny Styles & the Giants can absolutely use him But isn’t he an even more extreme “positional value” risk than Jeremiyah Love at 5 overall? Styles would immediately become a relatively expensive off-ball LB and his 5th yr option will be like 25m

It’s just his second year playing the position converting over from safety and already has better instincts than the Giants 2025 LB corps. Now imagine what that play speed and recognition will look like in Year 4 or year 6 playing the position?

This is a borderline disqualifying clip to every talk this show’s analysis seriously. Self-righteous @AqibTalib21 was a lock to put Dart last anyway after the MELTDOWN he had over the Giants putting up 30+ in Denver & his certified hater reaction But Jalen Hurts is incapable of throwing an intermediate football despite having the best offensive line in football the last 5 seasons and at WORST, top 3 weapons Great analysis guys, keep up the hilarious work!

How would you rank the quarterbacks of the NFC East? 🤔

@DanSchneierNFL Agreed but….with who?? Feels like OL help needs to come via trade now…

Pat Ricard to the Giants means a mix of 21 personnel. Isaiah Likely to the Giants means a mix of 12 personnel (the most productive grouping for Dart in 2025). Both groupings feature two total WRs. Malik Nabers played an All Pro level in 2024. Stop worrying about WR; improve OL

@DanSchneierNFL What makes you say that? For example, the reported interest in Linderbaum - the biggest knock on Lindy is size and strength, no?

Ultimately I have a gut feel that this is where Harbaugh wants to the move the Giants on the offensive line. What's interesting is how it impacts what they have currently.. JMS doesn't fit. Runyan doesn't fit. Thomas doesn't but who cares he's elite. Jermaine not so much either.

Waddle is one of my absolute favorite players. Loved him at Bama, loved him coming out of the draft, he’s fun as hell in the pros If the Giants trade legit capital for Waddle (which of course the Dolphins *should* get a lot for him), I’d be stunned. Look at the elite teams right now: One Alpha WR, several capable, complimentary pieces Idk how we could justify trading the 37th pick for Waddle (as an example) with some of the other holes we have on the roster

It feels like the Dolphins are tearing it all down and starting over. If Jaylen Waddle winds up on the trade block, I'd love to see the Giants get active.

Great article, great read. Thanks Dan. One of the more underrated frustrations of any 2026 Giants offseason plan is that they get zero cap relief by cutting or trading Slayton Being able to replace his $16m this year with Franklin-Meyers, Chenal, or one of the other FA’s you’ve outlined would be so helpful. It’s remarkable that Slayton cannot be touched. Hope that they execute some of your plan!

Here’s the 10-step offseason plan. As noted, some tricky decisions with existing players. I’m on vacation, so discuss amongst yourselves: nytimes.com/athletic/70514…

Feels like that (plus the potential of drafting Downs) is what unlocks this defense to be a potentially top 5-10 unit My only concern if they go defense/defense is they will rely solely on FA to make any sort of offensive improvements Which if they are able to snag Linderbaum, others, sounds great! Just makes me nervous 😂

@YankeesOutsider Nah. I want a revamped aggressive and athletic second level.

Assuming the Giants don’t go Styles Day 1, give me Allen at the top of Day 2. Let’s revitalize this LB corps. Look at what the Carson Swessy draft pick did for the Browns defense in one season. The Giants have the pieces up front to accentuate an off ball LB right away.

Feels like that (plus the potential of drafting Downs) is what unlocks this defense to be a potentially top 5-10 unit My only concern if they go defense/defense is they will rely solely on FA to make any sort of offensive improvements Which if they are able to snag Linderbaum, others, sounds great! Just makes me nervous 😂

@Ourlads_Sy Big follower of your scouting & enjoy your reports. Given that Daniel Jeremiah & a few other have mocked Mansoor Delane to the NYG at 5, what thoughts do you have on him as a prospect? Everything I’ve seen is he’s an excellent prospect. Curious where you have him vs Caleb Downs for example (even tho they are separate positions)

That’s extremely fair. I think my point of contention - and maybe for some others too- is that in aggregate, these prospects gettin flipped didn’t land the Yankees a star potential player A lot of these moves helped them on the margins. And trust me, no one would be happier than me to eat my words if Ryan Weathers turns out to be a star (hope he does!)

The Yankees *do* make a lot of trades though, which is why the farm is rated poorly. If Rafael Flores, Roc Riggio, Carlos De La Rosa, Griffin Herring, Dillon Lewis, Brendan Jones, and Parks Harbor were in this farm system they're a very good system.

What did Andrew Friedman say not too long ago? “If you’re rational about every free agent, you’ll always end up third”. I think that applies to trading prospects for players too. Yankees will sit tight with their prospects, whose value will continue to deteriorate. Both things can be true: - this is an overpay - at some point the Yankees gotta overpay to get a guy the want

The Nationals got the 12th overall pick from last year's draft and a top-100 pitching prospect for MacKenzie Gore alongside three other prospects. I like MacKenzie Gore a lot but this is another trade where you can't really go "the Yankees didn't try".

I don’t understand the Yankees fans hoping and praying Bellinger signs elsewhere. Same people will be bitching in the summer when Dominguez still can’t track a fly ball and the yanks could use another middle of the order bat

Awesome context, thanks! I’m not a scout & not going to pretend to be one, but whenever I watched OSU it felt like most of Downs impact plays came in run support Is his coverage skills on par with a Branch/Dejean? B/c Kyle Hamilton has measurables that r freak of nature. Downs isn’t that

CALEB DOWNS - S/Ohio State I won't finish a final grade him until March at the earliest, but the number I have right now on my scale is 85. For reference - it is a Pro Bowl grade but short of an All-Pro projection. in 2022, Kyle Hamilton was an 85 (#8 player in class) ▪️Hamilton fell to #14 overall in 2023, Brian Branch was an 85 (#9 player in class) ▪️Branch fell to #42 overall in 2024, Cooper DeJean was an 85 (#11 player in class) ▪️DeJean fell to #40 overall Don't overthink it. In this class especially - he is one of the best five players in the class and worth one of those slots.