After 16 seasons as the Dallas Cowboys’ long snapper, L.P. Ladouceur isn’t done yet. The 40-year-old Canadian recently said he want to keep playing but will need a new contract if that’s going to continue in Dallas.
Given his age and the expectation that he could retire at any time, Ladouceur has played on a series of one-year deals for a little over $1 million each from 2018-2020. But even after turning 40 today, Louis-Philippe apparently isn’t ready to call it quits.
If he does get another contract from the Cowboys, Ladouceur will likely break a significant franchise record.
Long snapper L.P. Ladouceur today became Cowboys’ first player under contract at age 40 since QB Brad Johnson played in 2008. Contract expires Wednesday. He plans to continue career in 2021. Needs three games in Cowboys uniform to reach 256 and surpass Jason Witten’s team record.
— Michael Gehlken (@GehlkenNFL) March 13, 2021
Just three more games with Dallas will give Ladouceur 256 career games with the Cowboys; the all-time record for games played with the franchise. The current mark is Jason Witten’s 255 games from 2003-2017 and his brief return from retirement in 2019.
The record is for total games, not consecutive, so Jason’s temporary retirement in 2018 doesn’t count against him. But even then, Witten broke the record in 2017 when he passed Ed “Too Tall Jones” at 224 games.
L.P. Ladouceur has earned the opportunity to finish his career with the Dallas Cowboys. Even now he remains as proficient as ever and would maintain continuity for John Fassel’s special teams groups in this critical upcoming season.
The Cowboys do not have to wait for Wednesday’s scheduled start to 2021 free agency to re-sign Ladouceur. We could see him and a few other internal free agents get contracts early this week as Dallas gets ready for the market to open.
As long as L.P. Ladouceur wants to continue his career in Dallas then we can expect him to get re-signed in the near future. There’s no improving upon perfection.
