Cowboys

Cowboys Officially Franchise DE DeMarcus Lawrence

March 5, 2018

Update:

Cowboys DE Demarcus Lawrence officially signed his franchise tag Monday night, according to his agent.

Congratulations to #TeamDEC client @TankLawrence who has officially signed his 1 year franchise contract with @dallascowboys This is just the beginning!!!!

— DEC Management (@davidcanter) March 6, 2018

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Todd Archer reports that the Cowboys have officially franchised DE Demarcus Lawrence on Tuesday as expected.

The franchise tag will cost the Cowboys around $17.5 million fully guaranteed for the 2018 season.

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Adam Schefter reports that Cowboys and DE Demarcus Lawrence will not reach a long-term deal before Tuesday’s franchise deadline. Schefter adds that Dallas will end up using their franchise tag on Lawrence, as they said they would.

Last we heard regarding Lawrence, Tom Pelissero of NFL Media reported that the Cowboys had yet to speak to his agent. Pelissero added that extension talks weren’t expected to go anywhere unless Dallas is willing to pay Lawrence at least the $17 million per year Vernon is getting from the Giants.

Beyond that, Lawerence is reportedly comfortable playing out the season under the franchise tag, so it wasn’t as though there was a long of room to negotiate from his end.

Cowboys executive Stephen Jones said previously that the team’s “first goal” with Lawrence is to sign him to a long-term contract extension (NFLTR), so it will be interesting to see how negotiations go this offseason.

Lawrence, 25, is a former second-round pick by the Cowboys in the 2014 NFL Draft out of Boise State. He just finished a four-year rookie contract and is set to enter the open market as an unrestricted free agent.

In 2017, Lawrence appeared in all 16 games and recorded 58 total tackles, 15 sacks, four forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, and one pass defense. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 3 overall edge defender out of 106 qualifying players.

We have him featured in our Top 100 – 2018 NFL Free Agents list.