It doesn’t sound like DeMarcus Lawrence and the Cowboys are going to reach an agreement on a longterm deal any time soon. The pass-rusher was franchise-tagged by Dallas earlier this month, and the two sides have been negotiating ever since. 
But the Cowboys’ front office and Lawrence’s agent , David Canter, have “reached an impasse in negotiations,” according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link). We heard a couple of days ago that Lawrence was upping his asking price from $20MM annually to around $22.5MM annually, so this news isn’t shocking. The Cowboys are reportedly offering Lawrence a deal that would make him the league’s highest-paid 4-3 defensive end, but Lawrence wants something more in the area of what Aaron Donald and Khalil Mack are making.
Cowboys EVP Stephen Jones said earlier this week that the team was “motivated” to get a longterm deal done, but that they weren’t inclined to pay him Donald money. In addition to salary demands, Rapoport reports there’s another issue holding up a deal. We heard back in January that Lawrence would undergo surgery this offseason, as he had been dealing with a torn labrum in his shoulder.
Rapoport says the Cowboys want Lawrence to get surgery right away to ensure he’s fully healthy for the start of next season, but Lawrence is going to wait until he gets a new contract to get the shoulder surgery. It appears he’s using the needed surgery as leverage in negotiations. According to Rapoport, the surgery Lawrence needs has around a four month recovery period, so there’s somewhat of a deadline here.
Rapsheet says Lawrence will need to go under the knife by April or May at the latest if he wants to be ready for the start of the 2019 season. That’s well before the July 15th deadline to agree on an extension, and it’ll be interesting to see which side blinks first. Lawrence has been one of the better pass-rushers in the league the past two years, and had 10.5 sacks last year.
This is absurd. I’m all for players getting money. DeMarcus deserves a bundle. But he asked for $20M and that’s what they offered. As soon as he was offered that he asked for $22.5M. Great player, but going over $20M is a slippery slope for the Cowboys.
Then add in the fact that he needs surgery ASAP. What happens if he waits until summer for surgery and he’s franchised? Isn’t he just shooting himself in the foot?
This is a strange negotiation and I can’t make sense of the twist and turns DeMarcus is taking. Reminding me of some of the tactics baseball players were using at the beginning of the offseason. Those that got a little too greedy ended up signing for a ton less just prior to Spring Training.
Hope they can come to a resolution. But for over $20M I can’t blame the Cowboys if they let him walk.
Agree
Sorry, if you want to get paid like Aaron Donald and Khalil Mack then you need to play like them. Lawrence is not in their class. If he doesn’t want the $20 million, have fun sitting out the season and getting nothing.
*And* he needs shoulder surgery. Good luck, dude.
Yup Donald and Mack are a class of their own. Lawrence falls into the class of very good. But not 99 or 52
Agreed with everyone. $20MM/year is a lot and Cowboys shouldn’t go over that. He’s not Mack or Donald… or Watt or Miller.
but if you were going to give him 20mil is 2.5mil really that much more in the grand scheme of things? Send him packing for a high 1st or two.
Please please please tell me what team would be dumb enough to send a high first or two AND pay him 22.5M AND he needs surgery. I swear people literally do not think before posting, he’s talented but his future contract and the surgery bring his value down.
Is there a team in the league that would give him 22.5M for more than 1 year?
Time to draft another guy named DeMarcus…..
There actually is one this draft. It’s DeMarcus Christmas lol
If he’s dumb enough to go through with this he could turn out worse than Le’Veon Bell. Atleast Bell was an All-Pro. Using his surgery as leverage could end up hurting him a lot more than it hurts the team. He sits out this year or even half the year and his value plummets. He’s very good, not great. Let him walk, this contract will cripple the franchise..
Bet he doesn’t even get 10 sacks next year..
Franchise him and let him walk
They already franchised him, so he’s turning down that.
If Jerry starts caving to ridiculous player demands he will have to limit himself to buying yachts under $250MM. Don’t see him as the one who blinks first here.
Dude it’s not about caving… it’s about paying other players too.. there is a salary cap.
looks like you wont be playing anywhere this season, demarcus
How much does Ziggy Ansah want?
trade his greedy ass out of dallas asap. this is a prime case of an agent steering his client in the wrong direction by inflating the players value. is he a solid player, yes…is he the top 5 in his position, maybe, is he donald or mack, absolutely not. get a pick, free up money for next year and sign ziggy!
can’t pass his physical then he
cannot be signed then he
cannot be traded