The Cowboys recently extended DeMarcus Lawrence for $105 million over five years. $100 million is a lot of money to begin with, but this interesting tidbit from NFL reporter Ian Rapoport puts things in perspective.
Lawrence won’t be the highest paid player on Dallas’ roster next season. His extension doesn’t kick until the following season. The highest paid player on Dallas’ roster next season will be Tyron Smith, checking in at $15.5 million; followed by Zack Martin ($14 million), Amari Cooper ($13.9 million), and DeMarcus Lawrence. The Cowboys have added longtime Green Bay Packers WR Randall Cobb, former Bengals and Vikings safety George Iloka, re-signed gadget receiver Tavon Austin, and traded for aging but still effective pass rusher Robert Quinn. However, they’ve had a relatively quiet offseason otherwise.
The reason? Jerry Jones has to decide how much money he wants to spend over the next two seasons. W
As it stands at the time of this writing, Dallas is set to have La’el Collins, Amari Cooper, Sean Lee, Byron Jones, Jeff Heath, Maliek Collins, and Dak Prescott become free agents next offseason. The following year Ezekiel Elliott, Cameron Fleming, Taco Charlton, Chidobie Awuzie, Jourdan Lewis, Xavier Woods, and Randy Gregory*. Regardless of what you think of any of the above players as, er, players, they’ve all been vital to Dallas’ success these past few seasons. Here’s what Jerry Jones and company has to consider when making decisions the next few offseasons.
- La’el Collins has had no more than four holding penalties called on him in his four seasons in the league.
- After Amari Cooper’s arrival in Dallas, Dak Prescott averaged 308.5 passing yards per game. Dallas went 6-2 in that span.
- In that same timespan, Ezekiel Elliott averaged 101.9 rushing yards per game.
- Despite the slew of injuries he’s suffered (and only appearing in seven regular season games last season), Sean Lee was Dallas’ leading tackler in the previous three seasons (both in combined and solo tackles).
- In 2017, Byron Jones led the NFL in non-offensive TDs (8) and in interceptions returned for a touchdown (3).
- Jeff Heath has been the third-leading tackler on the Cowboys in each of the past two seasons.
- Maliek Collins has been in the top three in sacks for Dallas in each of the past three seasons.
- Dak Prescott has never thrown more than 13 interceptions in a season and has eight fourth-quarter comebacks in the last three seasons.
- Ezekiel Elliott has finished number one in rushing yards in two of the last three seasons. The season that he didn’t, he missed six games due to suspension and still finished 10th.
- Despite being a rotational offensive linemen his entire career, Cameron Fleming has had one holding penalty called on him in his career (been in the league since 2014) and nine total in his career.
- Taco Charlton recorded three sacks in his rookie season (2017) despite making zero starts.
- Chidobie Awuzie finished fourth in combined and solo tackles on Dallas’ roster last season.
- Jourdan Lewis was tied for second last season in recovered fumbles (2).
- Xavier Woods was third on the team in passes defensed (9) last season.
These are just statistics for each player and can seem cherry-picked, but they’re also facts. Regardless of what your opinion is on whether Dak Prescott can be a franchise QB or if it’s smart to have one of your highest paid players be a running back, “America’s team” may become America’s most expensive team.
Randy Gregory is currently suspended indefinitely by the NFL