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DCC 4Life
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By: Ben Grimaldi | 6 minutes ago
DeMarcus Lawrence and the Dallas Cowboys don’t appear to be in the best place right now when it comes to negotiations for a long-term agreement. The club is already down Randy Gregory for the foreseeable future and there hasn’t been much production out of youngsters Taco Charlton and Dorance Armstrong yet. The club acquired Kerry Hyder who had an eight-sack season in 2016, but he’s a question mark as well.
Acquiring Robert Quinn via trade and extension would be a great start, but even beyond Quinn the Cowboys would still need to supplement their pass rush. Dallas needs a rotation of at least three strong rushers.
Without a deal in place and rumors swirling Lawrence is delaying shoulder surgery until he’s got a new contract, it’s fair to say things have gotten messy. Of course, this wouldn’t be a situation if the Cowboys had just ponied up the money last year when it would’ve been cheaper to re-sign Lawrence and he was happy with the organization.
Currently, with the team’s apprehension to accept Lawrence’s contract demands and with the defensive end’s petty reluctance to have surgery until a deal is reached, could there be a trade at some point? The answer is always yes, but it’s difficult to see the Cowboys getting full value for a player who needs major surgery, which could affect his ability for the upcoming season.
If there’s no trade and there isn’t a deal done soon, it doesn’t necessarily doom the Dallas defense in 2019. It won’t help if Lawrence isn’t ready to go and not having a first-round pick will hamstring their ability to find a pass rusher capable of lifting the defense to new heights, but that doesn’t mean the Cowboys are out of luck.
The good news is that quality pass rushers can be found almost anywhere and with everyone’s favorite pseudo-GM Will McClay, the Cowboys can find help. McClay has a knack for finding the under-radar players who have helped the team over the years. A few of the McClay specials were George Selvie and Jeremy Mincey, who both came in to aid the pass rush. Selvie had seven sacks in 2013 when he arrived in Dallas and Mincey added six the following year. Those aren’t Lawrence type of numbers, but they are proof McClay can find guys to help and there are still free agents available.
Dallas can also look to the draft for help.
They don’t have a first-round selection, but talent comes in every round of the draft. Justin Houston and Danielle Hunter were third-round picks in recent years, Trey Flowers was a fourth-round pick, heck Lawrence himself was a second-round pick, so edge rushers can be found. The issue is it does usually take some time for pass rushers to develop and Cowboys need help right away.
As the 2019 NFL Draft approaches, the Cowboys still haven’t settled their differences with their best defensive player and the relationship looks to be on the rocks. The Cowboys need to find a solution, and fast.
If the team and Lawrence can’t strike a deal, then the Cowboys need to get to work fixing their pass rushing problem. There is help available, the organization just has to find it.