It’s been bad enough watching the Cowboys see their current ranks diminished and picked off in free agency over the past month, with five starters and other key contributors having been lost to new contracts with other teams. But it turns out, we may have to beware the Cowboys taking further cost-cutting measures into their own hands, with the possibility of a draft-night trade sending away a stalwart player in the name of cap space.
That player: Cowboys 10-year veteran defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence, a returning team captain.
Such is the sentiment coming from the USA Today site Cowboys Wire, where both gloom and doom have taken hold as Dallas shifts into the next phase of its offseason. Because, though there is still plenty of time to work out new deals with the three major stars the team has on its books—quarterback Dak Prescott, wide receiver CeeDee Lamb and end Micah Parsons—there is also the very real problem of a lack of cap space.
The Cowboys have just $3.6 million in effective space available, with a heap of new money yet to be given out. Moving off of Lawrence’s contract, which is set to pay him more than $20 million in 2024, and drops to $8.7 million next year, would give the Cowboys more wiggle room.
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Cowboys Desperate to Create Cap Space?
Of course, in an article titled, “7 Cowboys Who Could Be Traded During the 2024 NFL Draft,” writer K.D. Drummond takes on all potential worst-case scenarios, which includes trading Prescott (which has been mentioned as a possibility elsewhere), trading Lamb (certainly not on the table) and trading Parsons (good gravy, no!). Those are all longshots of the highest order, though, especially as draft deals.
But there is some weight of possibility behind the Lawrence suggestion. He is 31 years old and though he is still very good at his job—he had a grade of 91.0 from Pro Football Focus last season, eighth among the NFL’s 112 edge rushers—Lawrence might be a luxury the Cowboys can’t afford.
Wrote Drummond: “He’s been a fixture with the organization for almost an entire decade, but there’s probably a team that would love to inject him into their defensive line, even as a one-year rental. Lawrence is a premiere edge defender with plus pass-rush ability.
“Dallas would save $10 million in cash and $2.5 million in cap space this year, and clear all dead money from 2025 if they moved off of Lawrence this summer. He could potentially net the club mid-round compensation.”
A 4th-Rounder for DeMarcus Lawrence?
The draft pick would hardly be the draw in moving Lawrence, and it would certainly seem necessary that the Cowboys do better than a, say, fourth-rounder for a stalwart like Lawrence. But that’s generally the going rate for a player in his 30s who needs to be moved on for financial reasons.
There are some good examples of this that serve as comparisons. One is Robert Quinn, whom the Eagles acquired from Chicago in 2022. Philadelphia made that deal for Quinn, who was 32 at the time, for a fourth-rounder.
Last year at the trade deadline, the 49ers sacrificed a third-round pick for Chase Young, who was 24 years old but was still recovering from knee surgery. The Bears surrendered a second-round pick for Montez Sweat last year, but Sweat was only 27 years old at the time.
So, trading Lawrence would improve the financial situation, for sure. However, the compensation would be a risky mid-round move, further weakening the Cowboys roster.
