DeMarcus Lawrence’s journey with the Cowboys and why he should be remembered as one of the greats

Let’s remember DeMarcus Lawrence for the right reasons.

The Dallas Cowboys have moved on from DeMarcus Lawrence as the veteran pass rusher signed a three-year deal with the Seattle Seahawks. The departure came with a little drama as Lawrence made some parting remarks about the Cowboys organization and their inability to win a Super Bowl. Former teammate and current Cowboys player Micah Parsons didn’t care for that and had some words of his own. Banter ensued and sports media outlets ate up every bit of it.

Sadly, our last impression of Lawrence has been tarnished due to these recent events, but it would be terrible to leave things like that. It feels only appropriate to take a final look at Lawrence’s journey and remember him the way he should be remembered, a Cowboys great.

It’s been quite the ride for the Cowboys star defensive end, starting at the beginning. He should have been a first-round pick, but character issues caused him to fall out of Day 1. He was suspended on three separate occasions at Boise State for violating team rules, although details of those events have never been disclosed. The Cowboys took advantage of his sliding draft stock and traded away their third-round pick to move up towards the beginning of the second round to select him.

Lawrence had a rough rookie season. He broke his foot in training camp and missed the first half of the season. When he finally stepped on the field, it was in a backup role. He never started a game and didn’t record a single sack during the regular season of his rookie year. He did leave his mark in the playoffs, however, recording the game-cinching sack against the Detroit Lions in the wild card game. This redeemed himself after he had just blown a previous game-cinching fumble recovery when he picked up a loose ball and tried to run, only to cough it up and give the Lions new life.

After battling injuries in two of his first three years in the league, Lawrence had a breakout season in 2017 where he recorded 14.5 sacks and forced four fumbles. It came at a good time as he was in a contract year. Because of this potential “phantom” year of production, the Cowboys played it safe and franchise tagged him the following season. In 2018, he put together another strong year finishing with 10.5 sacks en route to another Pro Bowl season. The front office tagged him again, only this time, as a placeholder and negotiating ploy. However, Lawrence played back at them, delaying shoulder surgery until they agreed on a long-term deal. It worked. A month after slapping the franchise tag on him, the Cowboys signed him to a five-year, $105 million contract.

The years that followed came with mixed reviews. Lawrence never reached seven sacks again, but he was a consummate disruptor. His performance against the run made him a dynamic player, repeatedly forcing fumbles and batting down balls. Starting with his playoff strip his rookie year, Lawrence never went a season without forcing a fumble.

But lacking the inflated sack numbers, some viewed him as overpaid, and that included the Cowboys front office in 2022. Because of his high cap hit, he was considered a potential cap casualty, but the front office was able to finagle a contract reduction that made his cap hit go from $27 million to just $14 million. Lawrence remained in Dallas and secured some more guaranteed money, but at a lower pay rate.

Lawrence finished his modified three-year extension and became an unrestricted free agent this offseason. While the perfect scenario would have been a team-friendly deal to keep him in Dallas, it wasn’t meant to be, and just like that, Lawrence is off to the Pacific Northwest.

“I mean everything really happened so fast. The offers came across the table and Dallas offer wasn’t there. I had a decision to make and that’s what happened.”

It’s easy to see how Lawrence’s departure from the Cowboys created some emotion. The front office played games with him not once, not twice, but three times over his career in Dallas. And when it came time to talk about 2025, it was crickets. That can’t feel good.

We can debate how good he was on the field, but his résumé speaks for itself. He’s had four years where he missed extended time due to injuries, but in the other seven he was pretty darn fantastic, including four Pro Bowl seasons. He has over 60 sacks and a 20/20 in forced fumbles/batted down balls in his career. He also finishes with 97 tackles for a loss as he lived in the backfield of opposing offenses.

And the love for Lawrence extended more to just what he did on the field. He was a true leader of this defense. Thanks to behind the scenes footage from Hard Knocks and All or Nothing, we got to see how respected he was. From Jason Garrett calling out him and Tyrone Crawford during a film study or his unimpressed demeanor walking in on Tarrel Bashem doing an impression of him, Lawrence said so much by saying nothing. He was good-natured and a family person who just like the rest of us, expects Chuck E. Cheese to show up when he pays extra for it. When it came time to step up the intensity, he did. When he opened his mouth, his teammates took notice as he was a vocal leader in huddles before games.

Lawrence’s time in Dallas wasn’t without drama. There were bumps along the way, but we shouldn’t lose sight of how hard this guy played for this football team. His body did him wrong at times, but the guy played through a lot of it, including two seasons dealing with a torn labrum. We can focus on the social media cat fight or instead appreciate him for what he gave us fans over the years. I’m choosing the latter.