What did Carl Lawson say after Cowboys lost DE Sam Williams?

The Dallas Cowboys lost a key part of their defense on Sunday as defensive end Sam Williams tore his ACL and MCL during special teams drills. He will undergo surgery, ending his season before it begins and leaving the Cowboys’ options at the position quite slim.

Behind Williams is rookie Marshawn Kneeland and Viliami Fehoko, in his second season with the team. Both are unproven talent and the safest option for Dallas is to find a veteran to replace Williams before the season starts.

Dallas Cowboys defensive line depth chart at training camp

Enter Carl Lawson

As the Cowboys ponder on potential replacements for Williams, one player seems to be ready to step up to the plate. Former Jets and Bengals defensive end Carl Lawson sent out a simple tweet shortly after the news broke - just one emoji of a star.

It certainly seems he’s trying to tell us something there.

Lawson was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the fourth round of the 2017 NFL Draft and had an impressive rookie season, finishing with 8.5 sacks, the most among all rookies in the league. Unfortunately, the rest of his NFL career has been plagued by injuries as well. In 2018, he suffered from a torn ACL in Week 8 and was placed on injured reserve. Though he was forced to sit out for several games, when he did play, Lawson recorded 20 sacks in 51 games.

In 2021, he was signed by the New York Jets on a three-year, $45 million deal, but like Williams now, his season ended early, during a joint practice before the season started, due to a ruptured Achilles’ tendon. When he came back in 2022, he recorded 33 tackles and seven sacks. During his last season with the Jets, he was a playing behind talented players Jermaine Johnson, Bryce Huff, and Will McDonald, so he was less productive.

Now a free agent, and fully healthy, Lawson wouldn’t be a bad idea for Dallas at all. He’s already familiar with Cowboys’ defensive run-game coordinator Paul Guenther because he played for him during his breakout rookie season when Guenther was the Bengals’ defensive coordinator. And despite the injuries, Lawson has proven he knows how to make a comeback.