Is DeMarcus Lawrence the next stalwart to leave Dallas Cowboys?
With Zack Martin retiring, and DeMarcus Lawrence hitting free agency, the Dallas Cowboys could be losing two of their most impactful players of the last decade.
DALLAS — As another NFL league year is about to begin, it’s an opportunity to start anew. For many teams, 2024 was a banner season, but for the Dallas Cowboys, they’ll be glad to turn the page. It was a disastrous campaign that saw injuries and front-office laziness crush the team’s goals.
While hope springs eternal for the Cowboys, the down year might mean that the team is preparing to move on without two of their best players over the course of the last 11 seasons, just as it lost another one from the previous era when Tyron Smith wasn’t brought back last offseason.
Right guard Zack Martin announced his retirement last week and defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence is a free agent who is not guaranteed to return. If Lawrence leaves Dallas, it will close the door on an amazing run for the first and second-round picks of the 2014 draft class.
Martin helped the Cowboys with one of their toughest decisions this offseason, but it still leaves Lawrence’s fate to be determined. Another gut-wrenching choice will have to be made with Lawrence, who was the team’s second-round pick in the same draft.
The veteran defensive end has an All-Pro season to his name, along with four Pro Bowls, two of which came in the 2022 and 2023 seasons when he was healthy. Like with Martin, Lawrence was hurt last year and managed to only play in four games, but he did have three sacks. Despite not having elite sack totals in his career, Lawrence did have two double-digit sack seasons and is considered one of the top two-way DEs in the NFL as a dominating run stopper.
Lawrence will be 33 years old when the 2025 season arrives and can stay with the Cowboys or sign with a new team. Retirement doesn’t seem to be on the DE’s radar as Lawrence has said that he doesn’t want to exit the game through an injury.
Without bringing Lawrence back, the defense doesn’t have enough adequate options at DE. If Lawrence doesn’t return, the Cowboys have just Micah Parsons as a quality player at the position. Sam Williams and second-year DE and Mashawn Kneeland would be the next man-up options and they both come with question marks.
Williams hasn’t played up to his second-round draft status and will be coming off a torn ACL that caused him to miss the entire 2024 season. There have been flashes from the fourth-year veteran out of Mississippi, demonstrating that he can be a valuable edge rusher; he’s got 8.5 sacks in two years from limited opportunities.
Unfortunately, the 2022 second-rounder has also had a tendency to commit penalties that force questions about his awareness. Still, Williams was drafted for his ability to get to the QB, and he’s shown that he can prosper in that role when healthy. The knee injury will be in the rearview mirror for the upcoming season, but it usually takes a full season to return to the level of production before the injury.
Kneeland, meanwhile, had his struggles in a rookie season and was limited to just 11 games due to injury, but the potential is there.
There are other options to boost the position for the Cowboys if they choose not to bring back Lawrence. Veteran free agents who played well for the defense last year include Carl Lawson and Chauncey Golston. Both could help, but Lawson and Golston are better served as role players as part of a rotation, not playing starter snaps as Lawrence for the past decade.
What Golston and Lawson do have in their favor is they could return at a cheaper cost than an outside free agent, so they’ll be strong options for the Cowboys. The team could sign a free agent to shore up the DE spot, but with how the team uses the open market, it likely won’t be a player of Lawrence’s quality.
The draft is another place where the Cowboys could find a replacement, but that would mean an awful lot of inexperience at a premium position. Parsons can’t do it all, he needs help rushing the passer, and the defense desperately needs run-stoppers.
Martin and Lawrence are the last two members of the 2014 draft class for the Cowboys, and it’s possible they leave the team at the same time. Jerry Jones has been known for being too sentimental when it comes to his players, but the team could use Lawrence back.
He might not play at the same level as he did in his prime, but Lawrence is better than the in-house candidates who might replace him, and the Cowboys don’t like to spend money on outside free agents. Letting Lawrence leave would be the end of an era in Dallas.
It’s a tough decision, but as always, money talks.
Do you think DeMarcus Lawrence will suit up for the Cowboys in 2025? Share your thoughts with Ben on X (formerly Twitter) @BenGrimaldi.