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DeMarcus Lawrence has been with the Dallas Cowboys his entire NFL career. That doesn’t appear likely to change anytime soon.
Per multiple reports, Lawrence is signing a three-year, $30 million extension with the Cowboys. The entire deal is fully guaranteed.
Tom Pelissero @TomPelissero
<a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cowboys?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#Cowboys</a> DE DeMarcus Lawrence has just become the first defensive end in NFL history to have 7 straight seasons of his contract fully guaranteed: He’s agreed to a new 3 year deal with $30 million fully guaranteed and is staying in Dallas.
The extension isn’t a massive surprise considering Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News reported on March 6 that Lawrence refused to take a pay cut when the Cowboys requested one due to the $19 million in base salary he was set to make in 2022.
Watkins noted Dallas released team legend DeMarcus Ware in 2014 when he declined to take a pay cut as something of a parallel situation.
Lawrence’s exit would have meant the Cowboys were without one of their key defenders from recent years, an outcome they clearly deemed unnaceptable.
The 29-year-old suffered a broken foot in the 2021 season-opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and didn’t return until December, but he was still productive with 21 tackles, three sacks, five passes defended, two forced fumbles and one interception.
Lawrence also isn’t that far removed from back-to-back Pro Bowl selections in 2017 and 2018.
The Boise State product was particularly dominant in 2017 with a career-best 14.5 sacks, and he followed with 10.5 in 2018, 5.0 in 2019 and 6.5 in 2020.
While the sack numbers have fallen off some since Lawrence’s peak, he has still been productive and often requires double teams from opposing offensive lines. That opens up blitzing opportunities for his teammates and means his impact goes beyond the straight numbers.
That was clear when Pro Football Focus gave Lawrence a sparkling grade of 91.0 in 2021.
He will be 30 years old during 2022 season and likely won’t be quite as productive as he was in the middle of his career at this point, but he is a proven pass-rusher who was effective last season. Paired with superstar rookie Micah Parsons, he gives Dallas a truly feared pass-rushing duo.
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