NFL contract grade: DeMarcus Lawrence ditches Cowboys for upstart Seahawks

The Dallas Cowboys will look and feel a lot different next season.

DeMarcus Lawrence has signed a three-year, $42 million contract with the Seattle Seahawks, per NFL Network's Tom Pelissero. After 11 seasons and four Pro Bowl appearances with Dallas, Lawrence will join an upstart Seattle team looking to build a top-ranked defense under sophomore head coach Mike Macdonald.

Dallas has now lost its two longest tenured players this offseason in Lawrence and Zack Martin, the latter of whom retired. Both Lawrence and Martin arrived in Dallas as 2014 draft picks and wound up making a combined 13 Pro Bowls, shaping the course of Cowboys football for more than a decade.

We can't blame Jerry Jones for every free agent departure, but this feels like yet another example of Jones prioritizing the wrong aspects of team-building. It's important to pay your superstars — of course it is — but when it comes at the expense of your second-tier starters and a strong supporting cast, your football team isn't going to win as many games.

Lawrence is 32 and returning from a serious foot injury, which limited him to four appearances in 2024, but he's still one of football's top edge defenders. Seattle will benefit immensely from his presence.

Seahawks sign DeMarcus Lawrence on affordable contract that cripples Cowboys defense

Before his injury last season, Lawrence posted 14 tackles, five QB hits, and three sacks in just four starts. Those are mighty impressive numbers. At 6-foot-3 and 265 pounds, he's a standout athlete on the line, with a strong knack for plugging gaps and stopping the run. He figures to elevate a Seahawks defense that already includes the likes of Leonard Williams and Derick Hall.

This has long been the vision in Seattle — to dominate in the trenches and leave opposing offenses gasping for air. Macdonald has carried on Pete Carroll's legacy in a sense. The Seahawks are no longer home to the infamous Legion of Boom, but this is still a team that prides itself on generating stops and making life hell on weary quarterbacks.

It has been something of a strange offseason for the Seahawks, who took an immediate step back by trading Geno Smith before signing Sam Darnold to a three-year contract. The offense has lost its two best playmakers in DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett, and it's fair to wonder how Darnold might fare outside the perfectly calibrated Vikings offense. Still, with their defensive personnel, it's clear Seattle has no intention of bottoming out. This is a team serious about winning, even if it requires some cap gymnastics and a few leaps of faith on offense.

Lawrence will need to prove that he can bounce back from a foot injury at 32, but few defenders have been more consistently dominant over the years. He brings a long track record of success and a remarkable competitive fire to this Seahawks D. Even if you're worried about the length of the deal, Lawrence figures to provide a strong leadership figure for Byron Murphy and Seattle's younger stars on the defensive end. Only $18 million of Lawrence's contract is actually guaranteed, per ESPN's Adam Schefter, so the risk is mitigated anyway.

This is incredible value if Lawrence lives up to his billing. The Seahawks are gambling a bit with Lawrence coming off of such a serious injury, but man, this feels like a game-changer. It's even sweeter since it leaves the Cowboys fandom reeling.

DeMarcus Lawrence contract grade: A-