Cowboys BREAKING: DeMarcus Lawrence Rejects Pay Cut; Future in Doubt - Report

The Cowboys are in supposed 'cap hell' and there could be a big-name casualty

FRISCO - The Dallas Cowboys put together a roster last season that many thought suitable for a Super Bowl run. At the very least, a deep playoff run was in order, including a trip to the NFC Championship Game. 

In reality, we know the Cowboys fell short of expectations in 2021. And the roster may be changing for 2022, starting with some big names.

The latest rumor/report: The Cowboys have approached DeMarcus Lawrence about taking a paycut - and Lawrence has rejected the proposal.

Anyone who follows the Cowboys knows COO Stephen Jones and staff do wizardly things in manipulating the salary cap (albeit with not enough wins to show for it.) But with Dallas currently around $21.5 million over the cap for next season, it's going to take a significant amount of manipulation.

There are some big names with expiring contracts that Jones and the Cowboys may not be able to keep. Jones will either need to figure out how to re-sign the key players with the existing cap situation or dump some big contracts in order to resign even bigger names. 

The biggest impact could be on the defensive side of the ball, where edge rushers Lawrence and Randy Gregory could be affected. Gregory is entering free agency and should be highly-sought-after on the open market, and should command top dollar. (CowboysSI.com has reported that Gregory is Dallas' "No. 1 priority.'') Gregory can be tagged.

Lawrence isn't free, but the guaranteed part of his contract is done. Meaning Dallas could save roughly $8 million by saying goodbye to one of its best defenders. 

We have reported in this space that Lawrence might not agree to a pay cut or contract restructuring. The Dallas News is now reporting that.

If a stalemate holds? That would force Jones & Co. to make a hard decision.

Lawrence's current deal is for five years worth $105 million, signed back in 2019, and if cut loose by Dallas, he would also be a strong target on the open market. One team that ESPN speculated would be interested is the New York Jets, who have plenty of cap space, around $48 million.

And Lawrence might be a good fit for a team that hasn't had a double-digit sack season since 2015.

Since entering the league in 2014, Lawrence has 48.5 sacks, 100 quarterback hits, 17 forced fumbles, and 321 tackles. All while showing durability on the field. Before missing  10 games last season, Lawrence hadn't missed a game since 2016.

A player like Lawrence could make the rest of the Jets defense better, too. A roster addition like that is something the organization desperately needs. Of course, he'd want to be sure his new team is willing to pay him the $20 million salary Dallas is attempting to escape.

The Cowboys cap-crunch situation is understandable since it seems every season recently has had a "win-now" mentality.

But that mentality may now cost them a player that many thought would be a Cowboys lifer. 

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