Dexter Lawrence can look across the field on Sunday and see what he might become.

The Giants can look and see what they had, what they developed and who they lost when they sat back and kept their salary-cap wallet firmly in their back pocket as Linval Joseph, who wanted to stay, left for the riches offered up by the Vikings.

Question for Giants fans: Would you be satisfied if Lawrence turns into Joseph, only this time, the promising and freakishly big and strong defensive lineman remains on the team past his first contract?

“Coming out of college, I watched him a little bit,’’ Lawrence told The Post after Thursday’s practice. “I think he’s a great player. One of the guys I kind of saw my game as in college, studied him a little bit.

“You can take things from different people and make it your own. Just how powerful he is. Runs to the ball, great effort guy. Just the way he works his hands in pass rush.’’

Joseph, 30, is an established NFL run-stopper with 23 career sacks. Lawrence is a rookie about to play in his fifth game.

After a quiet NFL debut, Lawrence has steadily played better, assuaging some of the fears that the Giants got bamboozled in the trade that sent Odell Beckham Jr. to the Browns. Included in the package was the No. 17-overall pick in the 2019 draft, which the Giants used to take the massive Lawrence out of Clemson.

Lawrence managed only one assisted tackle in his first game, a loss to the Cowboys, nearly doing the impossible — making a man so large (6-foot-4, 342 pounds) almost invisible. He was seen the next three games. Lawrence had four tackles against the Bills, then got his first sack, had two quarterback hits and blocked an extra point at Tampa Bay, and got push in the pocket on Case Keenum and Dwayne Haskins when facing the Redskins.

Lawrence, according to Pro Football Focus, ranks second in the entire league with an interior defensive lineman pressure rate of 17.3%. Only Calais Campbell of the Jaguars, a four-time Pro Bowler, is rated higher. Lawrence has nine pressures in the last three games.

“I think in the last couple weeks you’ve seen him have some knockbacks and snap some heads and separate on some people, and for him it’s just continuing to work some specific things he needs to get better at now,’’ defensive coordinator James Bettcher said.

Earlier this season, Bettcher challenged Lawrence to work on specific areas the coaching staff evaluated as in need of improvement. Lawrence did so — with extra work before practice, during special teams periods and after practice.

“He’s very detailed in his work, very focused in his work,’’ Bettcher said.

Joseph was renowned for his weight-room prowess with the Giants, as he and guard Chris Snee were considered the strongest players on the team. A second-round pick in 2010, there was nothing Joseph did on or off the field that steered the Giants away from him, other than the price tag they knew he would command. The Vikings moved in and signed Joseph to a five-year, $31.5 million contract in free agency in 2014. It turned out to be a bargain, as the Vikings in 2017 re-upped Joseph — a two-time Pro Bowler — with a four-year, $50 million deal.

“Linval is a terrific teammate, he’s one of our captains, he works his rear end off every single day, he’s tough, strong,’’ Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said. “I know he’s been to a couple of Pro Bowls, but he does a lot of dirty work that a lot of people don’t see, and he makes things a lot easier for our linebackers in a lot of different ways. He’s an unbelievable person, couldn’t ask for a better guy, and so we’re just fortunate that we have him.’’

The goal for Lawrence is for his coaches to wax poetic about him. The assignment this week is Dalvin Cook, who is averaging 5.8 yards per rushing attempt and has been so effective the Vikings receivers and quarterback Kirk Cousins are getting lambasted for their lack of production.

“I’m learning,’’ Lawrence said. “I felt myself get better each game.’’

Even if what he does is not noticed by the masses.

“That’s your job, you disrupt and you make the plays that come to you, sometimes that don’t come to you,’’ Lawrence said. “That’s what it means to be down there in the mud. We don’t get too much of that glamor but everybody respects us.’’