In case you've been living under a rock for the past five months, former New York Giants star defensive lineman Dexter 'Sexy Dexy' Lawrence II now plays for the Cincinnati Bengals.
What started out as a contract dispute quickly turned into stalled talks, which led to a trade request, which ultimately resulted in him being sent to Southwest Ohio for the 10th overall pick in the 2026 Draft.
It was genuinely shocking at the time, but it led to the Giants selecting Miami's Francis 'Sisi' Mauigoa to shore up their offensive line for the next decade-plus. Sisi put on an absolute clinic in his debut against the Dallas Cowboys. He was as advertised, using his gigantic 6-foot-6, 330-pound frame to manhandle Cowboys defenders. It almost immediately took the sting out of losing Big Dex along the defensive front.
As for the 6-foot-4, 340-pound defensive anchor, he also had a solid debut in orange stripes against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers -- only his impact won’t be seen anywhere in the box score. Zero sacks. Zero tackles for loss. Zero tackles in general.
The lack of stats will probably be excused by Bengals fans, but it’s a story Giants fans have seen before.
Giants fans have seen this version of Dexter Lawrence before
It feels like yesterday that Sexy Dexy was demanding more money from the G-Men following the paydays of some of the league’s up-and-coming defensive tackles.
A pay increase made sense for Lawrence when he was coming off three straight Pro Bowl seasons, but not when he was coming off arguably the worst season of his career in 2025. Sure, his impact was felt beyond the box score, but after putting up career lows in sacks (0.5), tackles (31), and quarterback hits (eight), there was an argument to be made that the value beyond the box score might not be worth the asking price.
Lawrence finished 2025 with a 75.6 PFF grade, ninth among 134 interior defenders, while his 84.5 pass-rush grade ranked seventh. Those numbers look nothing like a player coming off the worst statistical season of his career. Surprise!
Fast-forward to his Bengals debut, and he earned a 77.6 overall grade, good for 11th among 99 interior defenders. So, Cincinnati can point to that and feel perfectly fine about the total goose egg he just laid in the box score. Whatever helps everyone sleep at night.
Giants fans did the same thing last year.
Cincy traded the 10th overall pick for Lawrence and then handed him a $28 million extension to keep him in stripes through 2028. They shouldn't be panicking after one game, especially when the analytics suggest he played well. But they didn't trade that high of a pick and back up the Brinks Truck for advanced stats -- eventually, the numbers have to show up.
Maybe they will. But if this trend continues, Cincinnati might learn pretty quickly that “impact beyond the box score” only gets them so far.
The good news for Bengals fans is that his stat sheet can’t get any worse.
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