The Minnesota Vikings released two of their starting defensive tackles last month and may need a replacement or two in the NFL Draft, and it just so happens that Dexter Lawrence, who plays the same position, requested a trade from the New York Giants on Monday.

The cost would be steep, though a player of Lawrence’s caliber rarely becomes available in the first place.

Acquiring Lawrence won’t be cheap, but his next team won’t regret it.

Lawrence Would Change the Entire Equation Up Front

The Lawrence trade rumor mill is officially open for business.

Lawrence Requests Trade

The Lawrence era in New York is probably over. ESPN’s Adam Schefter wrote Monday, “New York Giants defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence II has requested a trade, and he will not be participating in the team’s offseason workout program that begins Tuesday, league sources told ESPN. Lawrence and the Giants have been through two offseasons attempting to negotiate a contract reflecting his value to the team over the past three years, but there has not been any progress, per sources.”

“Lawrence has two years remaining on his deal and is scheduled to make $20 million this upcoming season. Initially there had been optimism that, with changes in the organization, discussions could move forward. But now that they haven’t, new Giants head coach John Harbaugh will open his team’s offseason program this week without one of his best players.”

It’s not outlandish to proclaim that Lawrence will have 31 NFL suitors, at least exploratorily.

New Giants head coach John Harbaugh said about Lawrence in February, “How important is he? Really important. He’s super, super important. He’s a cornerstone football player — not really a cornerstone, more like the middle stone. He’s right in the middle. He’s a very big stone, and he’s a very active, athletic one.”

“Yeah, again, we have a lot of those conversations as we continue to build or, to your point, open up money Like, where can we do it? Could we do an extension with other players? What does that look like? So we’re always having those conversations, not only with Dexter but on other players. And that’s part of our mapping out the offseason and planning.”

It seems Lawrence will not be around to see the Harbaugh era get off the ground in New York.

SI.com on the Vikings Would-Be Proposal

Then came the theoretical trade packages. SI.com‘s Will Ragatz scribed, “Vikings get: DT Dexter Lawrence. Giants get: 2026 second-round pick (No. 49), 2027 fifth-round pick. The biggest barrier for the Vikings is the financial side. They’d have to do some serious cap maneuvering to add Lawrence’s contract and give him a raise to top-of-the-market DT money.”

“The only way it really works is if they end up trading Greenard in a separate deal, which would free up some cap space and also presumably get them a new second-round pick. Lawrence may be a better fit within the Vikings’ current roster construction, but the easier move would be to simply pay Greenard instead of executing two different major trades.”

VikingsTerritory proposed this on Twitter (X), which was immediately mocked and rebuked by Giants fans:

Regardless, the idea is out there.

Lawrence’s Career Output

Lawrence is a three-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro. He’s widely accepted as the best nose tackle in the NFL and might even be the best overall defensive tackle. When he requested the trade Monday, it was a big damn deal, as his placement with a new team has the capability of shifting the balance of power leaguewide.

The 28-year-old has banked 30.5 sacks in 109 career games, with 103 quarterback hits, 40 tackles for loss, and 15 forced fumbles.

Here’s his Pro Football Focus resume since 2019:

• 2025: 75.6
• 2024: 89.9
• 2023: 92.9
• 2022: 91.6
• 2021: 68.6
• 2020: 79.7
• 2019: 76.2

MIN Finances

As mentioned by Ragatz, money is the tricky part: the Vikings just used the last month to spend frugally in free agency, combating a cap-space crunch. Usually, teams that operate that way don’t turn around and trade for Dexter Lawrences.

Still, there’s a chance that Minnesota planned for this — keeping the budget nimble so that, if a player became available in the spring or summer, it could pounce.

Lawrence’s contract extension, after the eventual trade, will likely pay him around $30 million per season. In theory, Minnesota could accommodate that by firing up a three-year deal worth $90 million, making the cap hits sunset heavily in 2028 and 2029, and possibly trading outside linebacker Jonathan Greenard to a new team for a 2nd-Round pick.

The 2026 DL would look like this:

• Dallas Turner
• Dexter Lawrence
• Jalen Redmond
• Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins
• Andrew Van Ginkel

Not bad.

Rory McIlroy to acknowledge Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson’s absence from the Champions Dinner. The Northern Irish golfer will host his first Champions Dinner for the past winners of the Masters on Tuesday. The traditional dinner is only attended by past winners. However, this year, Woods and Mickelson are set to miss it.

At Monday’s Drive, Chip, and Putting event, McIlroy opened up about his Champions Dinner and talked about the absence of Woods and Mickelson. He said that he wants to make sure to “acknowledge” the absence of the legendary golfers.

“Unfortunately, there will be a couple of guys that won’t be in that room, which is a shame, but I want to make sure that they’re acknowledged as well. They’ve been two of the greatest champions that the Masters has ever seen.”

Phil Mickelson withdrew from the Masters last week to focus on his family’s health. He has been away from the field for a while and has only played in one LIV Golf event this season.

Meanwhile, joining the list of absentees at the Masters is Tiger Woods. The American golfer had an accident last month, following which he released a statement on his X (formerly Twitter) account that he would be stepping away from the game for a “period of time.” He is looking forward to treatment and will not be playing at the Masters.

Rory McIlroy “ready” to defend his Masters title

Rory McIlroy is looking forward to defending his title at the Masters and opened up ahead of the event on Monday. He talked about his Champions Dinner and the tournament.

“It’s going to be a really cool night. I can’t wait,” McIlroy said. “I hope everyone enjoys the dinner and enjoys everything that I’ve selected. Hopefully we won’t stay too long, and I’ll be ready to go. I may be not as fresh on Wednesday morning, but Thursday, I’ll be ready to go.”

This season has been decent so far for Rory McIlroy. He started the campaign with a T14 finish at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, where he carded rounds of 68, 67, 72, and 64. He was then runner-up at the Genesis Invitational, where he played rounds of 66, 65, 69, and 67.

However, McIlroy had a tough time playing at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, where he struggled with an injury and withdrew from the game after playing two rounds of 72 and 68. He then finished T46 at The Players Championship.

Rory McIlroy has not played since The Players, and it would be interesting to see how things will unfold for him at the Masters. The first major of the year is scheduled to take place from April 9 to 12.