With Dexter Lawrence no longer in the fold, the Giants are in obvious need of help along the interior defensive line. Cognizant of that, the Giants hosted free agent defensive tackle Benito Jones on Tuesday, per Howard Balzer of CardsWire.
Unable to successfully renegotiate with the disgruntled Lawrence, the Giants traded him to the Bengals for the No. 10 pick last weekend. The Lawrence-less Giants are now perilously thin at the position, and finding an adequate replacement for the four-time Pro Bowler in free agency or even the draft will be a tall order. Nevertheless, Jones would at least give the Giants an experienced option with plenty of starts under his belt. The same applies to D.J. Reader, who met with the Giants earlier this month. Lawrence was still on the roster then.
Jones went undrafted in 2020, but the Ole Miss product has managed a 71-game, 38-start career over five seasons divided between Miami and Detroit. Jones put together a 17-game, 15-start with the Lions in 2023. He did the same with the Dolphins in 2024. The Dolphins re-signed Jones last year and got another 14 games and eight starts from him. He ended the season on IR with a back injury.
While the 335-pound Jones has racked up a solid amount of on-field action, his production has not been particularly strong. He has never topped 26 tackles, six QB hits or 1.5 sacks in any season. The 335-pounder has also struggled in the estimation of Pro Football Focus, which ranked his performance 105th among 127 D-tackles last year. PFF has been especially bullish on Jones’ work against the run, having assigned him below-average marks in that department four years in a row. That doesn’t seem ideal for the Giants, who allowed the second-most rushing yards in the NFL in 2025, but they are nonetheless considering Jones as the post-draft wave of free agency nears.