The Dallas Cowboys want to sign defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence to a long-term deal this offseason. They’d prefer doing that instead of using a franchise tag on Lawrence, who is set to become a free agent.
“Our first goal is to sign him to a long-term deal obviously,” executive vice president Stephen Jones said from the Senior Bowl. “To me, the only reason you use a franchise tag is to hopefully protect yourself if you can’t get a long-term deal signed that you like. That’s normally the route we like to go.
“Certainly we’re going to roll up our sleeves and see if we can do something with DeMarcus without having a franchise tag.