Who is Carl Lawson, the former Jets DE the Cowboys signed?

When news broke that the Cowboys had lost defensive end Sam Williams to a season-ending ACL/MCL injury, Carl Lawson tweeted out a star emoji, seemingly ready to fill in for Williams.

Now it seems that wish has come true for the former Jets/Bengals defender. The Cowboys are signing Lawson just one day after adding defensive tackle Jordan Phillips in a trade they made with the Giants.

Lawson had previously worked out with the Cowboys after Williams went down, but the team decided to sign Al-Quadin Muhammad and Shaka Toney instead. Toney, however, just suffered from a groin injury and was waived by Dallas.

Who is Carl Lawson?

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 should be a nice addition to the Dallas defense. 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.