The Dallas Cowboys had hoped to secure a long-term deal for DeMarcus Lawrence before the deadline to franchise tag him but the two sides were reportedly too far apart in their negotiations. Now for the second straight year Lawrence was tagged and this time he will not sign the tender. The Cowboys have until July 15th to reach a long-term deal or else D-Law would have the option to skip offseason workouts without consequence.
The intention of the Cowboys front office is to sign him long term. The team has lacked the presence of a “war daddy” pass rusher since the days of DeMarcus Ware and now that Lawrence has emerged they want secure his services. The trouble is that the Dallas Cowboys are also making commitments to sign Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliott and Amari Cooper while courting free agent safety Earl Thomas. There is only so much money to go around when a salary cap exists.
Jerry Jones and co. may have been hoping that these star players would give the Cowboys a hometown discount in the interest of contending for a championship but it does not appear that is likely. Demarcus Lawrence is certainly playing hard ball and I don’t blame him. He played under the franchise tag last year and proved that 2017 was no fluke. His value as a pass rusher, run defender and team leader are without question. Finally, the recent suspension of Randy Gregory has given Lawrence even greater leverage than he already had.
There do exist some young players that could potentially step up and mitigate the loss of Gregory. Former 1st round pick Taco Charlton is considered by many fans to be a bust but he is entering his 3rd season. Some fans have forgotten that it took that many years for Lawrence to break out so perhaps Taco will surprise us this year. Then there is Dorance Armstrong. Armstrong is a 4th round pick from 2018 who has shown some serious potential as a pass rusher. His opportunities were limited last season but he could be a potential break out candidate for the Cowboys.
In reality though, even if the Cowboys young DE’s do emerge this season, they still need their best defensive player on the field. That player is none other than DeMarcus Lawrence. DeMarcus Lawrence will be the first domino to fall that will determine how the remaining Dallas Cowboys targets contract negotiations will unfold. I understand why this might cause the front office to hesitate to pay up but delaying the inevitable could be costly. The Dallas Cowboys simply can’t afford to be without Lawrence. If a contract dispute is allowed to continue and Lawrence is not present for offseason workouts that will be a distraction to the rest of team. Not withstanding the increased injury risk it presents for Lawrence if he does not stay in game shape.
In conclusion, the end game is simply this: The Dallas Cowboys need to do whatever it takes to secure a long-term deal for DeMarcus Lawrence sooner rather than later.
*Photo by Kieth Allison https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode