Aside from wide receiver, the biggest need on the Chicago Bears’ roster heading into free agency is a pass rusher who can elevate the defense from good to potentially great.
Demarcus Lawrence, who finished last season tied for second in the NFL with 14.5 sacks, is this year’s top free agent on defense and would instantly combine with Leonard Floyd to give the Bears a scary, and young, duo of sack artists.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like Lawrence will hit the open market.
According to ESPN’s Jenna Laine, the Cowboys and Lawrence’s agent are expected to commence talks on a multi-year deal at the NFL Combine, and even if a deal can’t be reached, Dallas is open to using the franchise player tag to keep him.
“Certainly, we’re going to roll up our sleeves and see if we can do something with DeMarcus without having a franchise tag,” said Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones.
Lawrence, 25, joined the Cowboys as a second-round pick in the 2014 NFL Draft out of Boise State. He’s totaled 23.5 sacks over his first four seasons, including a rookie year that began on injured reserve and a 2016 season in which he was suspended for four games.
Young and productive pass rushers rarely, if ever, hit free agency and the trending narrative seems to suggest that Lawrence won’t get there, either. If he somehow is allowed to test the market, expect Ryan Pace to make him an offer that would be the richest defensive contract in team history.
Aside from wide receiver, the biggest need on the Chicago Bears’ roster heading into free agency is a pass rusher who can elevate the defense from good to potentially great.
Demarcus Lawrence, who finished last season tied for second in the NFL with 14.5 sacks, is this year’s top free agent on defense and would instantly combine with Leonard Floyd to give the Bears a scary, and young, duo of sack artists.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like Lawrence will hit the open market.
According to ESPN’s Jenna Laine, the Cowboys and Lawrence’s agent are expected to commence talks on a multi-year deal at the NFL Combine, and even if a deal can’t be reached, Dallas is open to using the franchise player tag to keep him.
“Certainly, we’re going to roll up our sleeves and see if we can do something with DeMarcus without having a franchise tag,” said Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones.
Lawrence, 25, joined the Cowboys as a second-round pick in the 2014 NFL Draft out of Boise State. He’s totaled 23.5 sacks over his first four seasons, including a rookie year that began on injured reserve and a 2016 season in which he was suspended for four games.
Young and productive pass rushers rarely, if ever, hit free agency and the trending narrative seems to suggest that Lawrence won’t get there, either. If he somehow is allowed to test the market, expect Ryan Pace to make him an offer that would be the richest defensive contract in team history.
Gee, call me stunned. Couldn't have foreseen that, huh? We've only been saying that over and over for weeks.
Yeah...it will be interesting to see how Dallas goes about this with only having about 18 million in cap space. Obviously they can probably get Lawerence signed with that room...but it doesn't leave them room to do much else. I guess they could cut Dez...but that would still leave them with 8 million in dead cap space. The only people that would provide significant cap relief for them with no dead cap hit would be Zack Martin and Jason Witten.
Yeah...it will be interesting to see how Dallas goes about this with only having about 18 million in cap space. Obviously they can probably get Lawerence signed with that room...but it doesn't leave them room to do much else. I guess they could cut Dez...but that would still leave them with 8 million in dead cap space. The only people that would provide significant cap relief for them with no dead cap hit would be Zack Martin and Jason Witten.
and dont forget that 8mil has to sign other FA's rookies contracts AND have room to sign players during the season if injuries arise.
Yeah...it will be interesting to see how Dallas goes about this with only having about 18 million in cap space. Obviously they can probably get Lawerence signed with that room...but it doesn't leave them room to do much else. I guess they could cut Dez...but that would still leave them with 8 million in dead cap space. The only people that would provide significant cap relief for them with no dead cap hit would be Zack Martin and Jason Witten.
and dont forget that 8mil has to sign other FA's rookies contracts AND have room to sign players during the season if injuries arise.
Yeah...they'll have to get creative with how Lawrences contract counts against the cap for this season...and what the ramifications of the that will be.
and dont forget that 8mil has to sign other FA's rookies contracts AND have room to sign players during the season if injuries arise.
Yeah...they'll have to get creative with how Lawrences contract counts against the cap for this season...and what the ramifications of the that will be.
Yep this is why you have to be careful w/FA it can really F up your long term cap situation.
Post by brasilbear on Jan 29, 2018 10:24:00 GMT -6
Teams almost always can figure it out, even if sometimes its not optimal. Remember the big hubbub over Wilkerson and the Jets? Teams figure it out and are counting on the cap going up as well.
Teams almost always can figure it out, even if sometimes its not optimal. Remember the big hubbub over Wilkerson and the Jets? Teams figure it out and are counting on the cap going up as well.
I didn't expect Lawrence to hit the open market.
They can, but it doesn't always happen there are a few times where good players hit the market b/c of cap issues.