Defensive tackle was one of the Green Bay Packers' biggest needs entering the 2026 offseason. Although they signed Javon Hargrave in free agency, Devonte Wyatt is still coming off multiple major leg injuries, and there isn't much depth behind that duo.
Green Bay's is renowned for clinging to draft picks. The blockbuster trade for Micah Parsons was as bold as the Packers have ever gotten in sacrificing future assets.
Well, it just so happens that another All-Pro trade candidate has emerged who could fill in as a true nose tackle in Green Bay.
That's right. We're going there. New York Giants star Dexter Lawrence has demanded a trade. Let's break down a scenario where the Packers can capitalize.
Packers Dexter Lawrence trade package would give the Giants immediate help without too much future sacrifice
- Giants receive: WR Dontayvion Wicks, CB Carrington Valentine & 2027 2nd-round pick
- Packers receive: DT Dexter Lawrence
Money talks, and for better or worse, the G-Men signed Greg Newsome to a one-year prove-it deal this offseason worth up to $10 million. That's the type of cash you invest in a starting CB2.
But Newsome hasn't played so well over the last two seasons. New York needs competition at that position, so if Green Bay kicks in Carrington Valentine as part of the Lawrence trade, that'd go a long way in getting a deal over the line.
One could argue that this puts the Packers in a pickle, with free agent pick-up Benjamin St-Juste and Kamal Hadden as the primary contenders to start in place of Valentine. St-Juste played very well in limited action for the Chargers in 2025, though, allowing a 64.0 passer rating on 245 coverage snaps and missing only 3.3% of his tackles, according to PFF's tracking.
As for Hadden, he's slowly climbed the depth chart after washing out as a sixth-round draft pick in Kansas City amid a crowded Chiefs cornerback room.
In 2023 at the University of Tennessee, Hadden yielded a passer rating of 7. That's right. Seven. On 33 targets, he nabbed three interceptions and let up a mere 12 completions for 96 yards. There's real upside with him.
My latest seven-round mock draft had Green Bay kicking things off with Arizona State cornerback Keith Abney II. It's a rather deep draft at the position, so by preserving the 52nd overall pick, the Packers could pull off this Lawrence trade and spend that selection on Abney or another contender to start on the boundary of the secondary opposite Keisean Nixon.
The Giants could also use another wide receiver. Rather than spending their premium fifth overall pick on, say, Ohio State's Carnell Tate, they could add Wicks, who's been rumored to be on the trade block in perpetuity.
If Green Bay can serve up two relatively proven commodities in Wicks and Valentine at positions of relative need, without sacrificing its top 2026 draft pick, that'd be well worth the cost of landing Lawrence.
As mentioned in the introduction, Lawrence is more of a true nose tackle than Hargrave. The latter aligned in the A gap far more often toward the beginning of his career, but he's better suited in the B gap, where he can tee off as an interior pass rusher.
Lawrence's far superior size at 340 pounds would give the Packers a supreme, double-team commanding force who's almost five full years younger than Hargrave to boot.
The more you break it down, the more sense it makes for the Packers to take another big swing for a studly defender on the trade market. We'll see how bold they get, given that the Parsons deal backfired to some degree when he suffered a torn ACL in December.