Listened to a Breer interview and he said the Bengals had 10 on the table for a week before the Giants accepted it. New York was trying to work something out with Lawrence in the meantime and eventually gave up and took the deal.
So that would seem to indicate that it wasn't just a flat out no-brainer, slam dunk like so many from the outside think.
I get that a week out from the draft that each and every pick seems like diamond encrusted gold, but the fact of the matter is this is a pretty shit top 10 relatively speaking and Lawrence is a top 5 DT in the league.
Exactly. You are getting a starter at a bargain price with the top ten, but nowhere near as good a player as Lawrence— at least in 2026.
McDonald might be the closest fit to what Lawrence brings, and might even match or surpass him one day, but it’s in no way a sure thing and certainly not in year 1.
Given the extreme costs in the market, they simply can’t let Bain fall past pick 10. I think they will draft
Olave, er, Tate as booze said at 10 and Styles or Bain at 5. Given the enormous costs for premier WR’s and EDGE rushers, they can’t afford both Nabers and another strong WR or Thibodeaux and Carter plus another rusher any other way.
There are solid NT options in the draft, and maybe McDonald falls to their pick in the 2nd round, 37.
They badly need a RG, too, so like us they are in a position where they need the draft to answer too many needs vs the picks they have.