John Harbaugh once witnessed Lamar Jackson, his star quarterback in Baltimore, publicly ask for a trade in March of 2023. A month later, Jackson signed a new five- year contract and went on to win his second MVP that season.

The new Giants head coach is hoping for a similar resolution with Dexter Lawrence, the team’s best defensive player who has made a trade request while holding out of the team’s voluntary offseason workout program, which began Tuesday.

“We’ll find out,” Harbaugh said on a conference call. “I think the prospects (of Lawrence staying with the Giants) are gonna be high because, speaking for the Giants, we want Dexter here and I believe Dexter wants to be here. That’s a good formula, but there’s business involved. It’s a business proposition. We know it’s pro football. These things happen every year, pretty much at every team, so not surprised by it.”

Harbaugh saw this coming a few weeks ago after talks with Lawrence’s agent. He said he had “great conversations” with Lawrence when the Giants hired the Super Bowl-winning coach in January, but they haven’t spoken recently.

The crux of the issue: The 28-year-old Lawrence, a three-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro, isn’t content to play on the third year of the four-year, $90 million extension that he signed in 2023 because there is no guaranteed money left on the contract, and he has fallen from the third-highest paid defensive tackle to the 12th-highest.

The Giants will need to decide in the coming weeks — if not months — whether to extend Lawrence or trade him to the highest bidder.

“I don’t know if ‘granting the request’ is really the right way to say it because it doesn’t really work that way,” Harbaugh said. “It’s not like a Christmas gift. It just doesn’t work like that. It’s business, so the business is to be the best football team that we could be, and the business for him I’m sure is to be the best player he could be.”

Lawrence is coming off statistically his worst season in terms of pass-rushing as he had only half a sack in 17 games. In fact, he hasn’t had a full sack in 22 games after registering 21 from 2022 through 2024. But he also missed training camp last season coming off of elbow surgery, and he still finished seventh among 121 defensive tackles in pass rush win rate while facing one of the highest rates of double teams in the NFL.

The 6-foot-4, 340-pounder is also an integral part of the Giants’ run defense, which needs additions — not subtractions of All-Pro talent — after ranking 31st in yards allowed last season.

Even if Lawrence could potentially fetch a first-round pick on the trade market, trading him would be a questionable move considering the Giants arguably have less defensive tackle depth than at any other position.

“Dexter is a great player in the National Football League,” new defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson said. “I love the way he plays, I love the style that he plays. He’s a big man that anchors the defense. It’s part of the business right now. Everything right now is voluntary. The CBA says he doesn’t need to be here right now, and we’ll see how things play itself out. Hopefully everything works out in our favor.”

Almost Full Attendance

Aside from Lawrence, the only other two Giants players who didn’t report to the offseason program on Tuesday were cornerback Paulson Adebo and defensive lineman Sam Roberts.

While technically no one is “excused” because the workouts are voluntary, Harbaugh said Roberts was absent because of travel restrictions related to surgery and must wait for stitches to heal.

Adebo, a starter in the secondary, chose not to show up.

“I’m not exactly sure, but it’s his right, it’s his reason,” Harbaugh said. “Whatever his reason is, I’ll be interested to hear it. But it is what it is. It’s OK.”

Updates on Nabers, Skattebo

Fans must wait a while longer to see two of the Giants’ top play-makers back on the field.

Wide receiver Malik Nabers and running back Cam Skattebo continue to recover from surgeries last October. Nabers had a torn ACL, while Skattebo had a dislocated ankle.

“Skat will probably get out there a little bit at some point in time to some degree,” Harbaugh said of team workouts this spring. “Malik, it’s gonna be more toward end of training camp and closer to the season.”

But both were in the building on Tuesday for the first meeting where Harbaugh wanted everyone to address the team with a quick speech about their “identity and purpose” as players and people.

Right Guard Up for Grabs

One lingering depth chart question as the NFL Draft approaches is who will be the Giants’ starting right guard next season after not re-signing 36-year-old Greg Van Roten.

One potential answer is Lucas Patrick. The Giants signed the 10th-year veteran on Monday. He has started 28 games at center, 19 at left guard and 18 at right guard in his career, with more than 1,000 snaps at each spot.

Injuries have often been a problem for the 32-year-old. Patrick was the Bengals’ Week 1 starter at right guard last season, but a calf injury sidelined him for the next six games.

“He gives us valued experience that is always important to have,” new offensive coordinator Matt Nagy said. “I think when you have that experience, as a coach, it’s nice to know that you get a guy that’s been there, done that. So, we’ll go through this process. Once you get through the draft, you kind of see where you’re at. You get to see where these other players are that we have. But competition is beautiful. We have a lot of places right now where there’s gonna be a lot of great competition.”