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Cowboys Will Tag DeMarcus Lawrence; What’s the Plan?

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February 20 is an important day for NFL clubs this year. Why? It’s the first day in which teams can franchise tag any player. Since 2015, when the Dallas Cowboys tagged Dez Bryant before they were able to work out a long-term deal, Jerry Jones & Co. haven’t used the franchise tag. In 2018, though, that will change.

DeMarcus Lawrence just played his best season yet in 2017, and he’s looking to get paid big time. Through three years, he had been able to rack up nine sacks, 52 tackles and three forced fumbles. In just 2017, he sacked opposing quarterbacks 14.5 times, had 35 tackles and managed to force four fumbles.

Not only did Lawrence look like an elite pass rusher, but he also improved as a run defender a lot. The Cowboys have been looking for a “War Daddy” for a long, long time and Lawrence seems to be the answer for this football team.

After such a big year, one would expect the Cowboys to sign him to a multi-year enormous contract. But there’s a catch. Lawrence failed to remain healthy early in his career and really didn’t make as much of an impact until last season.

There’s no question that D-Law will be wearing a star come the 2018 NFL season, but will he be doing it under a long-term deal or under a franchise tag?

For now, according to David Moore from Dallas Morning News, the Cowboys will franchise tag Lawrence with the objective of getting a deal done in July. The tag however, is not expected to be placed as soon as possible.

What would franchise tagging DeMarcus Lawrence mean for this team?

First of all, they’d make sure he doesn’t hit free agency in March. This gives the front office time to get to work and restructure players’ contracts if they have to in order to open up as much cap space as they can before giving him a deal.

It’s worth mentioning as well, cap savings from players who are designated as post-June 1 cuts will already be available. If you want to be more familiarized with the Cowboys’ cap situation, I highly recommend you read John Williams’ deep dive on the matter.

It’ll continue to be a very interesting story for this offseason, as handing a franchise tag to a player tends to become a non-friendly situation for both parties. Let’s hope that’s not the case for the Cowboys and Lawrence this year and that everything works out fine.

Here at Inside The Star, we’ll continue updating you and the rest of Cowboys Nation throughout the offseason.

I love to write, I love football and I love the Dallas Cowboys. I've been rooting for America's team all the way from Mexico ever since I can remember. If you want to talk football, I'm in... You'll find me at @MauNFL.

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