2026 NFL mock draft: What Dexter Lawrence trade might mean for Giants, first round

Can the 2026 NFL Draft possibly live up to all of the wild trades that have already preceded and shaped it? Five days before it was set to start, the draft’s outlook was drastically altered again – the New York Giants agreeing to trade Pro Bowl DL Dexter Lawrence II to the Cincinnati Bengals for the No. 10 overall selection, meaning the G-Men now own a pair of picks in the top 10.

The Giants become the sixth team this year with multiple first-rounders, they and the Jets both set to get two players in the top half of Round 1. Meanwhile, the Bengals get a largely proven commodity in Lawrence – though he is coming off a down year and will need an updated contract – in a year when the draft seems to have relatively few top-tier prospects. As for how the deal could re-shape the first round at large?

Here is my final first-round projection before the real one finally arrives on April 23: 1. Las Vegas Raiders – QB Fernando Mendoza, Indiana This is one pick that won’t be traded , Silver and Black GM John Spytek saying Tuesday that, "We've gotten a few calls, and those teams know where they stand right now. ” He added, “There's only one team that can get the exact person that they want.

And we have that option available to us this year, if we so choose. " Oh, they’ve chosen, if not yet officially. Mendoza, the Hoosiers’ championship-minted Heisman Trophy winner , will be the man charged with leading the Raiders back to Super Bowl glory more than four decades after they last hoisted the Lombardi Trophy.