The Dallas Cowboys and edge rusher Demarcus Lawrence have agreed to a five year $105 million contract extension with $65 million guaranteed. With the new extension, Lawrence will receive the heftiest sum of money ever for a defensive player in the first year of his new deal, eclipsing the $31 million Khalil Mack received from the Chicago Bears in 2018. The Cowboys initially tried to franchise tag Lawrence for a second straight year. A disgruntled Lawrence refused to sign the franchise tag agreement and was dead-set on coming to an agreement with the organization for a long term deal.
Lawrence finished the 2018-19 season with 10.5 sacks, 64 tackles and the first interception of his career. This year’s performance led to him making the Pro Bowl for the second straight year. Locking in D-Law long term was towards the top of the Cowboys offseason list of priorities as his contributions were part of the reason as to why the Cowboys defense finished the year sixth in the league in points allowed per contest. After recording nine sacks in the first three years of his career with Dallas, Lawrence has developed into one of the top edge rushers in the NFL. The Cowboys have a young core of talent on both sides of the ball and signing Lawrence to an extension is just the first domino to fall in keeping the young guns together in the 214.
