The San Francisco 49ers made big strides to upgrade their defensive front in 2026 after trading a third-round pick to the Dallas Cowboys for defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa. Now that another, more accomplished defensive tackle has requested a trade, the 49ers could dip into the veteran market once more to completely revitalized the trenches for this upcoming season.
New York Giants nose tackle Dexter Lawrence reportedly requested a trade Monday and won’t be attending the team’s offseason workouts. While there may be other elements at play with this decision, reports indicate the request stems from contract negotiations. Lawrence signed a four-year, $87.5 million deal before the 2023 season and has a $26.96 million cap hit for the 2026 season.
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If the 49ers were interested in adding Lawrence, the cost would reportedly be somewhere between a late-first-round and a second-round pick, according to ESPN’s Jordan Ranaan. Additionally, any team that acquires Lawrence would own $20 million in 2026 and $19.5 million in 2027, per Spotrac. More than likely, though, Lawrence would want to agree to a new deal before another team would trade for him.
The 49ers likely aren’t a suitor for Lawrence this offseason, especially after the Odighizuwa trade. However, they could pull this deal off if they wanted to pair Odighizuwa and Lawrence in the middle of the defensive line and if they weren’t sold on 2025 second-rounder Alfred Collins this year. This would be a pretty formidable front-four with Nick Bosa and Mykell Williams on the edges.
San Francisco has around $30.5 million in salary cap space at this point in the offseason, per Over the Cap, but really only has about $26.3 million in effective cap space once they sign their rookie class and a full 51-man roster. But with some contract finagling, they could pull off a Lawrence deal if they wanted.
This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: Could the 49ers trade for this $87.5 million D-lineman?