After 11 years with the Dallas Cowboys, including his final season in 2024, when injuries limited him to just four games, DeMarcus Lawrence is finally moving on. With Dallas already shelling out massive sums to CeeDee Lamb and Dak Prescott — and a big extension for Micah Parsons on the way — there wasn’t enough left to retain the defensive end. The town simply wasn’t big enough for all of them, so Lawrence signed with the Seattle Seahawks.
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It didn’t take long for Lawrence’s frustrations with the Cowboys to boil over. In an interview at his new team facility, the four-time Pro Bowler acknowledged that his home is in Dallas, but that he didn’t believe he could “win a Super Bowl there”. It was far from subtle, and Parsons took the bait quickly, calling his former defensive linemate a “clown”.
Parsons also accused Lawrence of being envious of his former Cowboys teammates due to the rejection he supposedly suffered at the hands of the organization this offseason. The online exchange has predictably led to many op-eds about who’s right and wrong. It wasn’t quite a think-piece, but Pittsburgh Steelers veteran Cam Heyward, one of the most well-respected players in the league, gave his thoughts on the big hubbub on Tuesday.
“If you’ve got a problem with the process and you think you can win it elsewhere, so be it. But your voice and opinion, that everybody else is the problem besides you. Just ain’t right. That’s just not good business, I feel like,” he said emphatically on Not Just Football.
Heyward has never won or even been to a Super Bowl in his 14 years in the league. But he has played with a litany of champions. After all, he was drafted by the Steelers just three years after their last Super Bowl win in 2008.
Heyward noted that plenty of players have sought out teams they believed gave them a better shot at a ring, but they would never come out and say what Lawrence said publicly.
“I’ve been on teams where other players have won Super Bowls. It’s never felt like a guy said, at least publicly, that I can’t win a Super Bowl here, I’ll never be able to win. It’s just, you know, this team might give me a better chance,” Heyward continued.
The defensive lineman wrapped up his thoughts on the Parsons-Lawrence exchange by taking some shots at Lawrence’s new team. While Lawrence was correct that the Cowboys aren’t primed for a Super Bowl run anytime soon, his new team in Seattle isn’t much closer to championship contention either — something Heyward made sure to point out
“And I don’t think Seattle is a good place [if you want to win]. Now you’re just blowing smoke, you’re trying to upset one base and create another. To act like you’re on the Chiefs now was kind of absurd. “
In the end, it seems both players are kind of right and kind of wrong. Lawrence’s take on the Cowboys is likely to be vindicated, as they don’t seem on the precipice of greatness. But he was also wrong for making those statements publicly after signing with a team that most would consider a lateral move from Dallas.
Parsons, on the other hand, of course, had to come to his organization’s defense. Especially when you consider that the organization is pondering whether to give him $41 million a year. The accusatory words were perhaps not ideal, however.
The Seahawks and Cowboys will both be competitive next season. But the fact that two players from non-Super Bowl contenders are debating who’s more likely to win a championship in the near future (neither) makes it a bit silly.