Monday, July 16, 2018 is the deadline for the Cowboys to reach an agreement for a long-term contract with standout DE Demarcus Lawrence but reportedly that is unlikely to happen. It is all but certain that D-Law will play the 2018 season under the franchise tag. The Cowboys are trying to play it safe once again. It worked to their advantage in the case of Anthony Spencer a few years back so why not do it again?
I can understand the reasons why they might hesitate to marry themselves to Lawrence at a premium price. He has only just emerged as an All-pro this past season playing the final year of his rookie contract. He may be the Cowboys best pass rusher but he plays the right defensive end position and it is traditionally the left defensive end position where the premier pass rushers are usually situated. The biggest reason they may for hesitating is due to the history of back issues that have plagued “Tank” during his career. Despite his resolve to play through the pain, an edge rusher playing with a bad back is as debilitating as playing with 1 arm. Lawrence’s 1 sack 2016 season is a testament to that. It may be wise for the Cowboys to see if Lawrence can remain healthy and duplicate his success one more time before committing $$, after all there are some other big names that will require hefty contracts in the years to come. (ex. 2016 draft class).
There may be plenty of reasons to hold off on paying Lawrence but there are just as many good reasons to sign him. First of all, elite pass rushers are a rare commodity and even if it was 1 season 14.5 sacks is not easy to attain. D-Law is a great pass rusher but he is also solid against the run so he is far from a one dimensional player. Paying him now could ultimately save the Cowboys money because if he enjoys a repeat performance this season his price tag will jump significantly. Lastly, the Cowboys are in a better position to pay Lawrence than they were with Spencer a few years back.
Weighing the pro’s and the con’s, if the decision was up to me I would pay D-Law and lock him up for a few years. I have heard whispers that Lawrence is seeking around 5 years for at least $17 million/season and that is a reasonable price to pay in my opinion. I fully understand the desire to be prudent with giving out contracts as this has been the Cowboys downfall for so many years but this is different. If they are going to take a chance on someone it should be on a QB, which they will with Dak, and it should be on a pass rusher. Hopefully the Cowboys are not making a big mistake by betting against DeMarcus Lawrence.
*Photo by Kieth Allison https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode