2024 could e the last season for a few longer-tenured members of the Dallas Cowboys.
The 2024 season has been a disaster for the Dallas Cowboys. Injuries, poor coaching and performance, and off-the-field issues have all plagued Dallas in this abysmal season. With 2024 all but over, the Cowboys will soon turn their attention to 2025 and try to rebound from this embarrassing year.
Looking towards the future, the Cowboys have some key players set to hit the open market at season’s end. With that in mind, today we take a look at two current Cowboys who could be playing out their final few weeks in Dallas.
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1) CB Jourdan Lewis
Cornerback Jourdan Lewis has been one of the few players on the Cowboys’ roster to exceed expectations this season. Dallas brought the 29-year-old back on a one-year, $2.8M deal last March and it has turned out to be arguably their best move of the offseason.
Lewis has put on display quite possibly the best season of his eight-year NFL career. The former third-round pick’s 72.4 coverage grade, via Pro Football Focus, is the second-highest of his career. Lewis has allowed just one touchdown in coverage and has an 83.3 passer rating when targeted in the slot, 13th-best among qualified cornerbacks.
With DaRon Bland’s injury struggles and Trevon Diggs’ up-and-down performance, it would make sense for the Cowboys to try to bring Lewis back after this season. However, with the way he has played this year, it’s almost a guarantee he will price himself out of returning to Dallas.
Last offseason cornerbacks Chidobe Awuzie, Kenny Moore, and Sean Bunting all signed three-year deals worth $8.5-$12M annually. Lewis may be primarily a slot corner, but he’s as talented and valuable as any of the three mentioned above. With the year he is having, there will be at least one team out there willing to give him a multi-year commitment at a higher price than the Cowboys are willing to offer.
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2) DE DeMarcus Lawrence
It’s hard to believe DeMarcus Lawrence is currently in his eleventh season as a Cowboy. Lawrence is tied with Zack Martin as the longest-tenured player on Dallas’ roster, and it seems almost certain this will be his final year as a Cowboy.
The injury bug bit Lawrence once again this season as he was placed on IR after Week 4 with a foot injury. With the current state of the Cowboys and Lawrence’s advanced age, it’s fair to question if he’ll return this year.
During his time in Dallas, Lawrence has consistently been one of the Cowboys’ best players. While he may not have always been the level of a pass-rush threat he was during his monster 2017 and 2018 seasons, Lawrence was consistently one of the best edge defenders against the run and played with an intensity and focus few others could match.
From 2017 on, Lawrence finished six of eight seasons with a run defense grade of 79 or above. In 2021 and 2023 he finished first and second in the NFL in this category, recording a 92.5 and 92.2 grade respectively.
The Cowboys lack edge depth so bringing Lawrence back would be a huge help in beefing that up, but much like Lewis, he’ll almost certainly price himself out of Dallas’ market. Last spring former Cowboy Dorance Armstrong earned himself a three-year, $33M contract in free agency. Even though Lawrence is significantly older than Armstrong, it’s fair to assume a contending team will be willing to give him at least the same amount of money annually ($11M) to join their team.
As we’ve seen in recent years, if the contract is above $5-6M a year in free agency the Cowboys are not going to be interested, making Lawrence’s return very unlikely. It’s sad to imagine him playing for another team, but that seems guaranteed to become a reality in 2025.
