Cowboys star Demarcus Lawrence wants more than $72M for next contract - report

By Ross Kelly July 8, 2018 at 10:24am

In March, DeMarcus Lawrence of the Cowboys signed his franchise tag, which will guarantee him $17.14 million for the upcoming season.However, the pass rusher is angling for more money — much more — and wants to break the bank with a long-term deal.

Calvin Watkins of The Athletic reports that Lawrence is seeking a deal that will pay him more than the $72 million that the Vikings’ Danielle Hunter recently signed for.

Hunter’s extension is for five years and features $40 million in guarantees, including a $15 million signing bonus. In terms of total value, his contract is the third highest among defensive ends, trailing only J.J. Watt and Olivier Vernon.

Lawrence appears to want to be in the top three at his position and that could create a standoff with the Cowboys. The deadline for franchise-tagged players to reach agreements on multi-year contracts is July 16, so neither side has much time to work out a deal.

When first broached with the topic of playing under the franchise tag, Lawrence didn’t seem to have much of a problem with doing so when interviewed at the Pro Bowl.

“Franchise (tag) not bad. Contract not bad,” Lawrence said at the time. “So, like I said, I’m not worrying about nothing. I’ll leave it up to my agent, he’ll take care of me.”

But when the Cowboys eventually slapped the tag on him, Lawrence sarcastically mentioned on Twitter that the Cowboys told the media about the franchise tag before they told him.

Oh wow. Glad the media knows. I still haven't heard anything haha. Either way, proud to be part of the @dallascowboys organization! Let's go chase #6 🏆!! #Tagged https://t.co/lteWKNNmtZ

— DeMarcus Lawrence (@TankLawrence) March 5, 2018

Lawrence does have some leverage in the fact that he really is the Cowboys’ only productive pass rusher and they need him on defense as much as they need Dak Prescott or Ezekiel Elliott on offense.

Will the Cowboys sign Lawrence to a long-term deal before the July 16 deadline?

His 14.5 sacks last season are the fourth most in franchise history; only DeMarcus Ware has taken down more quarterbacks in a single season.

Even with that production, the Cowboys still finished last in the NFL in sacks last season as the rest of the team combined for just 23.5 sacks.

Dallas didn’t add any pass-rushers in the first three rounds of the draft nor did they sign anyone in free agency who had more than one sack last year.

The Dallas front office would hate to see what the Dallas defense looks like without Lawrence being a part of it, but the team appears to be content with taking things one year at a time.

“We won’t let D-Law not be a Dallas Cowboy next year. We’ll get that straight right now,” Cowboys Executive VP Stephen Jones said in February. “We’ll do everything we can to try to make something work, and if we don’t get it done then we’ll franchise tag him. Then we’ll go back to work. We’d like to not have that franchise tag hanging out there. We’ve got a big negotiation ahead of us. But we don’t want Demarcus Lawrence going anywhere.”

Adding to the urgency to complete a long-term deal this year is the fact Prescott can start negotiating a new deal next offseason and Elliott can do so the year after.

They are the faces of the franchise and will take priority over Lawrence, who doesn’t want to be in the position of Pittsburgh’s Le’Veon Bell and getting tagged year after year.

If the Cowboys don’t want to commit to Lawrence on a long-term deal, then once he hits free agency he should have no trouble finding a team who will make that commitment.

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