5 Cowboys Who Won't Return in 2025 With Season Officially Over

4. DeMarcus Lawrence, defensive end

It would be extremely weird to see DeMarcus Lawrence playing for any other NFL team, but then again, that was also once the case for DeMarcus Ware, who left Dallas in the 2014 offseason and landed with the Denver Broncos -- where he would help them win Super Bowl 50.

The problem with the Dallas Cowboys is the sheer volume of free agents they have on the defensive side of the ball. How do you sort out who to all keep on this side? Especially with yet another scheme and coaching change (although Eberflus has been in Dallas before, including earlier in Lawrence's career), you can't help but wonder if going younger off the edge will be the play for Dallas.

They need to re-sign Micah Parsons. They have second-round pick Marshawn Kneeland waiting in the wings. Heck, depending on how encouraged by his recovery, you have to factor Sam Williams into the mix here as well.

Everybody in Dallas would probably love to see Lawrence come back but does Lawrence want to take a haircut to stay in Dallas or does he maybe feel like he could get more money and possibly even a better chance of winning elsewhere in the immediate future? As much as a player like this likely cares about the legacy of being a lifetime Dallas Cowboys player, you have to make tough decisions at certain points.

And the list of free agents defensively for Dallas might be too much for them to really justify keeping Lawrence around at $12 million plus the $8 million he's already counting against the cap on a void year.

You hate to see it happen, but Lawrence is probably not on this Cowboys team in 2025 and beyond.