The Dallas Cowboys placed the franchise tag on DeMarcus Lawrence on Monday, and the Pro Bowl defensive end quickly signed the one-year contract that guarantees him $17.1 million in 2018.
The Cowboys had until Tuesday to put the tag on Lawrence, who can still sign a long-term deal with the club that traded up him to get him early in the second round in 2014. Lawrence’s agent, David Canter Darius Leonard Colts Jersey , wrote on Twitter that his client signed the deal.
Lawrence tied All-Pro Calais Campbell of Jacksonville for second in the NFL with 14 sacks last season. The 25-year-old’s breakout year came after he struggled with injuries most of his first three seasons. He had back surgery each of the previous two offseasons.
On the one-year contract, Lawrence’s salary would be the average of the NFL’s five highest-paid defensive ends.
Lawrence is an important piece with the Cowboys trying to get back to the playoffs after missing at 9-7 a year after they had an NFC-best 13 wins before losing a divisional playoff to Green Bay.
The former Boise State player emerged for a Dallas defense that has lacked star power beyond 2016 All-Pro linebacker Sean Lee. Lawrence surpassed his previous career high of eight sacks in the fifth game.
Pass rushing was a problem for the Cowboys in each of their past two trips to the playoffs. In 2014, they finished 28th in sacks and couldn’t get to a hobbled Aaron Rodgers in a divisional loss to the Packers after Lawrence clinched a wild-card win over Detroit with a sack of Matthew Stafford.
In the rematch with Rodgers, Dallas sacked him three times but couldn’t get a stop in the final minutes of a 34-31 loss in January 2017.
Lawrence broke a foot in training camp his rookie year Josh Allen Youth Jersey , missing half the season. His second year was Lawrence’s only full season, when he had 31 QB pressures to go with the eight sacks.
After serving a four-game drug suspension to start 2016, he had three sacks in nine games before missing the final three regular-season games with a back injury. He played in the divisional loss to the Packers.
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