Demarcus Lawrence Gets Mega-Deal

Demarcus Lawrence Gets Mega-Deal

Tank Signs a Mega-Deal. Good or Bad Move?

On Friday afternoon, the Dallas Cowboys locked up one of the league’s top pass rushers. Dallas signed defensive end Demarcus Lawrence to a 5 year/$105 million deal with $65 million guaranteed. This deal is up there with the ranks of deals that Khalil Mack and Aaron Donald have signed, who both signed huge deals right before the 2018 season. With this signing, Tank Lawrence will make $31 million next year, which makes him the highest paid defensive end in 2019. This deal has pros and cons to it, let’s look at both.

Pros

Over the past two seasons, Lawrence has broken out to be one of the top pass rushers in the NFL. With a combined 25 sacks in the past two seasons (T-4th in NFL), Lawrence has been a problem to offensive lines all over the NFL. With this deal, Dallas has solidified their defense for then next 5 seasons. Having a good pass rush is crucial to a good defense and Lawrence provides that. Dallas’ defense is very young but proved to be one of the top defenses in the NFL. Over the next 5 years, offensive lines should fear the Dallas defense, especially with who is coming around the edge.

Cons

Even though Demarcus Lawrence is a game-changing player, Dallas may have hamstrung their team with this deal. Lawrence’s deal is worth $105 million over the next five years with $65 million being guaranteed. With Dallas full of young talent and core players approaching free agency, the Cowboys could be in some cap trouble very soon. Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliott, Amari Cooper, and Byron Jones are all looking for huge deals and it is going to be hard to keep all of them with Lawrence’s deal clogging up cap space. There have been reports that Dak Prescott might receive $27 million a year, which would put an even bigger dent in cap space. Unless these core players are willing to take pay cuts to form a dynasty in Dallas, they could be in deep trouble in the next few seasons.

-By: Richie Dordas