Giants’ Dexter Lawrence on new contract: ‘I wanted to be respected for my production and leadership’

Dexter Lawrence crashed Friday’s first rookie minicamp practice with a new contract under his belt and a huge smile on his face.

“I wanted to be respected for my production and leadership around here,” he said of his absence from the early offseason program during the negotiations. “I wasn’t out to set any records.”

Lawrence landed a life-changing, four-year, $90 million contract with $60 million guaranteed but said he won’t let his new wealth define him.

“Money is just what I have now,” he said. “It’s not who I am as a person.”

He said “my ultimate goal is to be legendary, to be a Hall of Famer,” and getting paid isn’t a regular topic among his closest teammates and friends.

“People I’m around just talk about being great,” he said.

He also said he believes Saquon Barkley’s contract standoff will eventually be resolved, too.

“I think Saquon is going to get what he deserves,” Lawrence said. “He’s one of the top players on the team.”

The funny thing is, as much as Barkley has sought specific numbers in his contract negotiations, ultimately the running back’s absence also comes down to the same concept Lawrence cited:

Respect.

It’s up to GM Joe Schoen now to get Barkley done.

Lawrence, by the way, did not commit to regular attendance of the Giants’ voluntary program this offseason now that his deal is done. He said he’d be back but had some other things to attend to first.

ROOKIE CAMP DAY ONE ROUNDUP: The biggest thing that stood out about third-round speedster WR Jalin Hyatt’s first Giants practice was that he probably didn’t need to shower after it. Hyatt practiced some route releases on the side to open practice, receiving individual attention from wide receivers coach Mike Groh and offensive assistant Cade Knox, akin to last year’s daily routine with Kadarius Toney and Kenny Golladay. Then Hyatt looked fluid during individual drills and routes on air, but he didn’t receive a single snap in 7-on-7 against the defense. This looks like the same player workload management the Giants employed last season, when their 11-man draft class was ravaged by major injuries in the summer. It’s very early in the offseason, and Brian Daboll surely wants to get a look at tryout players while he already knows what Hyatt can do. But practice is practice, right? It will be interesting to see what adjustments the Giants have made to their training plans for Year 2 of this program. …

Fifth-round RB Eric Gray might be the only Giants player with quads to rival Barkley’s, although they’re not quite at the Saquads level. …

Rookie second-round center John Michael-Schmitz centered an offensive line featuring four tryouts: Memphis’ Austin Myers at left tackle, Old Dominion’s Tyran Hunt at left guard, Duke’s Chance Lytle at right guard and Baylor’s Khalil Keith at right tackle. …

Length was a consistent trait among the Giants draft picks who stepped to the podium Friday: first-round CB Deonte Banks, Hyatt, sixth-round CB Tre Hawkins III and seventh-round safety Gervarrius Owens. …

The five players fielding punts were Gray, incumbent Giants Kalil Pimpleton, Rhode Island tryout Ed Lee, Texas tryout Tarique Milton and Northern Iowa tryout Deion McShane. …

The Giants welcomed a whopping 47 rookie tryout players on Day 1.

GIANTS SIGN NINE UDFAs: The Giants signed nine rookie undrafted free agents on top of their seven-man draft class: West Virginia WR Bryce Ford-Wheaton, Michigan CB Gemon Green, Pittsburgh OLB Habakkuk Baldonado, Illinois QB Tommy DeVito, Toledo LB Dyontae Johnson, Mississippi ILB Troy Brown, Washington S Alex Cook, East Carolina TE Ryan Jones and UNC-Charlotte LS Cameron Lyons. DeVito hails from Cedar Grove, N.J., and played at Don Bosco Prep.

FORMER RAMS QB HIGHLIGHTS VET TRYOUTS: There were five veteran tryouts among the 73 players on the Day 1 rookie minicamp roster: former Rams QB Bryce Perkins, former Seahawks CB Nigel Warrior, former Ravens CB Iman Marshall, former Bills/Panthers/Seahawks OLB Darryl Johnson and former Broncos OLB Jonathan Kongbo.

FOUR INCUMBENTS JOIN THE GROUP: Four players who were on the Giants’ team or practice squad last year were on the field Friday: Pimpleton, RB Jashaun Corbin, S Trenton Thompson, WR Makai Polk. Newly signed Duke CB Leonard Johnson also was practicing as he missed last season, which would have been his rookie year, due to injury.