Sources: Cowboys asked DeMarcus Lawrence to take a pay cut, which he refused – The Dallas Morning News

INDIANAPOLIS — Among the Cowboys’ highest-paid players, quarterback Dak Prescott has job security, wide receiver Amari Cooper does not and apparently defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence doesn’t as well.

While team officials are close to releasing Cooper, who will have a $20 million base salary guaranteed if he’s on the roster March 20, Lawrence is in a different situation.

Lawrence is considered the Cowboys’ best pass rusher and most expensive, seeing as he’s scheduled to make $19 million in 2022, which is the second-highest salary on the team. However, multiple sources said the team asked Lawrence to take a pay cut, which he refused.

Normally when a player rejects a pay cut he’s soon to be released.

In 2014, Cowboys officials asked soon-to-be Hall of Fame outside linebacker DeMarcus Ware to take a pay cut, which he declined. Ware was eventually released. Cowboys’ owner and general manager Jerry Jones said it was one of the most difficult decisions he had to make.

When it comes to Lawrence, Jones has another arduous decision.

After consecutive Pro Bowl seasons in 2017 and 2018 where Lawrence complied 25 sacks, the production hasn’t been the same.

In the last three seasons, Lawrence has 14 ½ sacks and 33 quarterback hits. And he played in just seven games this past season due to a broken bone in his foot.

Yet when Lawrence plays, he’s a dynamic presence.

He takes pressure off fellow defensive end Randy Gregory by facing double-teams and the emergence of uber-talented linebacker Micah Parsons is partially attributed to what Lawrence brings.

The Cowboys value Lawrence’s backside tackling skills in the run game and his constant push upfield on passing downs.

He’s also become a mentor to Parsons on and off the field, which Cowboys officials embrace. But the business side of the NFL dictates a departure.

“We go through every player on our roster,” Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said from the National Scouting Combine. “I know [the media] may target guys that you think we may be looking at and usually those are the guys making a lot of money. That comes with making money, unfortunately in this league. Is the value there? We’ll certainly work through that.”

With Gregory being an unrestricted free agent, adding Lawrence’s release creates a hole on a defensive unit that was impressive in the 2021 season.

If the Cowboys cut Lawrence and re-sign Gregory it raises a question.

Are the Cowboys a better team with Gregory and Dorance Armstrong (another Cowboys unrestricted free agent) at defensive end over say Lawrence and Gregory? Or maybe even Lawrence and Armstrong? Would the Cowboys even draft another defensive end and pair him up with Lawrence?

It seems unthinkable to do something like this, but the Cowboys being close to $25 million over the salary cap has created these problems. Dallas will get under the cap, yet how they accomplish this impacts the roster, particularly one of its highest-paid players.

Cutting Lawrence creates $19 million in cap savings for 2022 and produces $19 million in dead money spread out over the next two seasons.

Does it make sense to release one of your more productive players?

The Cowboys have 21 unrestricted free agents on the roster and yes, team officials would like to bring each and every player back. That’s not realistic.

Having the cap space to re-sign a majority of those players is important and can happen by restructured contracts and releasing veterans such as Cooper and Lawrence.

“We just have to make some decisions,” Stephen Jones said. “Some tough ones but I think the ones unfortunately if we lose a couple of good players, then hopefully we’ll continue to do a good job with our drafting process and look for value in free agency so we can draft the way we’ve historically drafted which is not on a need bases but on a best player available bases.”

Lawrence and his family want to remain in Dallas. It seems like a natural fit for him. If the Cowboys release him by thinking he can return, people close to the defensive end believe he’ll command a high salary on the open market for teams in need of a pass rusher.

When it comes to Lawrence he’s among the highest-paid at his position and now his tenure with the franchise he wants to stay with is tenuous.

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