3 Free Agents Cowboys Must Sign After Micah Parsons & DeMarcus Lawrence Injuries

Dallas Cowboys fans held their collective breaths on Thursday night as they saw star pass rusher Micah Parsons carted off the field after suffering a leg injury. It was the worst-case scenario for Dallas as they also saw DeMarcus Lawrence go down with a foot injury.

At the time, no one knew what Parsons’ injury was, but Cowboys owner Jerry Jones tried to quell the fan base’s fears on Friday. Jones said on 105.3 The Fan that Parsons and Lawrence feel good, which is a good sign. He also added that the injuries don’t seem very “significant.”

However, the latest update on Parsons and Lawrence isn’t great news for the Cowboys after knocking off their division rivals on Thursday. According to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, Parsons suffered a high-ankle sprain, but his status is to be determined.

Meanwhile, Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network reported that Lawrence is expected to miss multiple weeks due to his foot injury.

Based on these two updates, the Cowboys must have contingency plans ready for the next few weeks. Dallas could give more snaps to rookie Marshawn Kneeland and promote Carl Lawson from the practice squad to help with the potential loss.

But the Cowboys’ depth isn’t great on the defensive line, so they’ll need to consider bringing in a veteran pass rusher. The bad news about that particular option is there isn’t much talent on the open market.

That said, the Cowboys don’t need anything special. They need a defensive end who can get after the quarterback, and we’ve found three veterans who can do that.

1. Shaq Lawson

The Cowboys already have Carl Lawson on their team, why not double up and bring Shaq aboard as well?

The 30-year-old defensive end is shockingly still a free agent after appearing in 16 games last season with the Buffalo Bills. Lawson received limited playing time in Buffalo, as he played a career-low 33% of defensive snaps.

The veteran EDGE recorded 13 combined tackles, seven quarterback hits, two tackles for loss, and a sack. These stats were a noticeable difference from what Lawson did in his first season with the Bills in 2022.

During that season, the former first-round pick had 31 combined tackles, nine quarterback hits, six tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, and a forced fumble in 15 games (six starts). He also played 48 percent of defensive snaps.

If the Cowboys were to go after Lawson, they wouldn’t expect him to start in place of Parsons as they likely want that role to go to Kneeland. However, he would be an upgrade of Tyrus Wheat, who was inactive for Thursday night’s game.