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From his MMQB column:
[h=3]LAWRENCE NEVER WANTED TO LEAVE DALLAS[/h]
During a breakthrough conference call on Thursday between Cowboys COO Stephen Jones, DE Demarcus Lawrence, agent David Canter, and Canter’s VP of analytics, Brian McIntyre, the agent texted his client at a particularly tense moment with directions on what to say.
So trade me then.
When those words never came out of Lawrence’s mouth, the situation crystallized to Canter. The 27-year-old pass-rusher has put down roots near the team facility in Frisco, Texas. He’s close with coordinator Rod Marinelli. He’s a leader in a locker room with a burgeoning young defense. In short, Lawrence didn’t really want to go anywhere, and his refusal to say those four words was proof.
“I knew then that fighting over a half-million dollars would do a disservice to my client,” Canter says. “I know that’s who my responsibility is to.”
It wasn’t a straight line from that point to a deal getting done. In fact, at 3:45 p.m. ET on Friday, it actually looked like the negotiation had taken a step backwards. But buoyed by Lawrence’s desire to sign, the sides eventually got there, striking a five-year, $105 million accord early Friday evening. Canter took me through how this all happened, and here are the most interesting things he said.
• The Cowboys’ desire for Lawrence to have shoulder surgery created a key leverage point. He played all of 2018 and part of ’17 with a torn labrum, and he wasn’t going to have surgery without getting a long-term deal first. So with months of rehab to follow that, if Dallas wanted him to get the repair and play the whole 2019 season, this had to happen soon. Most deals for tagged players happen in July, near the deadline, but this circumstance pushed the timetable way up. Dallas’s team doctor, Daniel Cooper, will perform the surgery on Wednesday.
• If Lawrence didn’t get a deal by the July 15 deadline, his plan was to report the Saturday before Week 1. He wasn’t sitting out the season. “We were never going to turn down $20.5 million for one,” Canter said. “This was not going to be the Le’Veon Bell situation.” On the flip side, for the team, if Lawrence did show up just before the opener, the concern would be whether or not they’d get the best version of Lawrence, who’d have to work his way back into football shape on the fly.
• All that said, there was also urgency for the player to do a deal. He’s had two major back surgeries, foot surgery, thumb surgery and is about to have his shoulder done. He’d go into free agency at 28 years old next year. There was guarantee the money would be the same then as it is now.
• Coming out of the combine and right up until the start of free agency, nothing was close. Then Trey Flowers signed a five-year, $90 million deal with the Lions, which started to frame where things were going, since there was agreement that Lawrence was a better player. Canter sent a proposal at $132 million over six years. The Cowboys weren’t happy about that, because it was more than he’d asked for previously.
• When things looked bleakest, Canter was working with two AFC teams on potentially trading for Lawrence. He says he believes one of the two was ready to pull the trigger. One important piece of movement that prevented it from ever coming to that: The Cowboys’ willingness to go to a five-year structure.
• There was an agreement that Lawrence and Stephen Jones had to talk after the owners meetings. Dallas general counsel Jason Cohen wound up being key in making sure that discussion eventually happened, after some scheduling issues got in the way, as Lawrence made a trip to his alma mater in Boise for its pro day.
• After the conference call, the two sides exchanged proposals twice, so four were made total, on Thursday night. Lawrence and Canter set a goal to get $50 million over the first two years, and $66 million over three. They wound up getting close—Lawrence ended up with $48 million over two, and $65 million over three.
And ultimately, that was about, again, what the player really wanted, which was to stay put. Earlier in the process, Canter sent Lawrence a chart to show how Dallas’s offers stacked up financially against Khalil Mack, Aaron Donald, Flowers and Von Miller.
In the end, among those five, he was third in APY (average per year), third in full guarantee, first in guaranteed APY, first in percentage of the deal fully guaranteed, first in Year 1 cash (factoring in deferments, etc.) and third three-year cashflow. Best of all, he got all of it right at home. And now the Cowboys can turn around and work on deals for Dak Prescott, Zeke Elliott, Amari Cooper and Byron Jones.
Everyone, it seems, won here. Dallas did a fair deal. Lawrence got a fair deal.
“I’m really happy for everyone involved,” Canter said.
[h=3]LAWRENCE NEVER WANTED TO LEAVE DALLAS[/h]
During a breakthrough conference call on Thursday between Cowboys COO Stephen Jones, DE Demarcus Lawrence, agent David Canter, and Canter’s VP of analytics, Brian McIntyre, the agent texted his client at a particularly tense moment with directions on what to say.
So trade me then.
When those words never came out of Lawrence’s mouth, the situation crystallized to Canter. The 27-year-old pass-rusher has put down roots near the team facility in Frisco, Texas. He’s close with coordinator Rod Marinelli. He’s a leader in a locker room with a burgeoning young defense. In short, Lawrence didn’t really want to go anywhere, and his refusal to say those four words was proof.
“I knew then that fighting over a half-million dollars would do a disservice to my client,” Canter says. “I know that’s who my responsibility is to.”
It wasn’t a straight line from that point to a deal getting done. In fact, at 3:45 p.m. ET on Friday, it actually looked like the negotiation had taken a step backwards. But buoyed by Lawrence’s desire to sign, the sides eventually got there, striking a five-year, $105 million accord early Friday evening. Canter took me through how this all happened, and here are the most interesting things he said.
• The Cowboys’ desire for Lawrence to have shoulder surgery created a key leverage point. He played all of 2018 and part of ’17 with a torn labrum, and he wasn’t going to have surgery without getting a long-term deal first. So with months of rehab to follow that, if Dallas wanted him to get the repair and play the whole 2019 season, this had to happen soon. Most deals for tagged players happen in July, near the deadline, but this circumstance pushed the timetable way up. Dallas’s team doctor, Daniel Cooper, will perform the surgery on Wednesday.
• If Lawrence didn’t get a deal by the July 15 deadline, his plan was to report the Saturday before Week 1. He wasn’t sitting out the season. “We were never going to turn down $20.5 million for one,” Canter said. “This was not going to be the Le’Veon Bell situation.” On the flip side, for the team, if Lawrence did show up just before the opener, the concern would be whether or not they’d get the best version of Lawrence, who’d have to work his way back into football shape on the fly.
• All that said, there was also urgency for the player to do a deal. He’s had two major back surgeries, foot surgery, thumb surgery and is about to have his shoulder done. He’d go into free agency at 28 years old next year. There was guarantee the money would be the same then as it is now.
• Coming out of the combine and right up until the start of free agency, nothing was close. Then Trey Flowers signed a five-year, $90 million deal with the Lions, which started to frame where things were going, since there was agreement that Lawrence was a better player. Canter sent a proposal at $132 million over six years. The Cowboys weren’t happy about that, because it was more than he’d asked for previously.
• When things looked bleakest, Canter was working with two AFC teams on potentially trading for Lawrence. He says he believes one of the two was ready to pull the trigger. One important piece of movement that prevented it from ever coming to that: The Cowboys’ willingness to go to a five-year structure.
• There was an agreement that Lawrence and Stephen Jones had to talk after the owners meetings. Dallas general counsel Jason Cohen wound up being key in making sure that discussion eventually happened, after some scheduling issues got in the way, as Lawrence made a trip to his alma mater in Boise for its pro day.
• After the conference call, the two sides exchanged proposals twice, so four were made total, on Thursday night. Lawrence and Canter set a goal to get $50 million over the first two years, and $66 million over three. They wound up getting close—Lawrence ended up with $48 million over two, and $65 million over three.
And ultimately, that was about, again, what the player really wanted, which was to stay put. Earlier in the process, Canter sent Lawrence a chart to show how Dallas’s offers stacked up financially against Khalil Mack, Aaron Donald, Flowers and Von Miller.
In the end, among those five, he was third in APY (average per year), third in full guarantee, first in guaranteed APY, first in percentage of the deal fully guaranteed, first in Year 1 cash (factoring in deferments, etc.) and third three-year cashflow. Best of all, he got all of it right at home. And now the Cowboys can turn around and work on deals for Dak Prescott, Zeke Elliott, Amari Cooper and Byron Jones.
Everyone, it seems, won here. Dallas did a fair deal. Lawrence got a fair deal.
“I’m really happy for everyone involved,” Canter said.