New York Giants defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence had a breakout season in 2022, making the Pro Bowl for the first time and earning the first All-Pro honor of his four-year career.
Lawrence was a terror on the interior of the line, both against the run and the pass. He racked up a career-high 7.5 sacks, was fifth in the NFL with 28 QB hits and made 68 tackles in 16 starts.
Pro Football Focus graded Lawrence as the third overall pass rusher in the NFL last season.
Highest-graded pass rushers from the 2022 season pic.twitter.com/pNwUZA5IlS
— PFF (@PFF) February 16, 2023
The Giants exercised Lawrence’s fifth-year option, which will pay him $12.4 million for next season, but the Giants want to keep the big man around for the foreseeable future.
“I would say Dexter’s done enough,” general manager Joe Schoen said when asked about a contract extension for Lawrence. “Again, we want all of our guys back. We want them to be here for a long time. Dexter played well, and we’ve got him under the fifth-year option. And that’ll be part of our end-of-season review in terms of how we want to approach that. But yeah, Dexter played really well, great person, great teammate. Happy he’s here.”
