Cowboys BREAKING: DE Carl Lawson Signs With Dallas

The Dallas Cowboys continue to remake their defensive line room with veteran additions, this time circling back to veteran free agent Carl Lawson, who early on Thursday morning decided to sign with the team.

Dallas faced an early setback during this 2024 training camp when defensive end Sam Williams suffered a torn ACL ruling him out for the season. Williams, while not a starter, was poised to contribute significantly on the edge.

His absence necessitated swift action from the Cowboys to fortify their defensive line.

In response, the Cowboys gave tryouts to a group theoretically led by Carl Lawson ... with Shaka Toney and Al-Quadin Muhammad being the guys eventually signed.

Maybe Lawson didn't want to pull the trigger then, or maybe the other two guys came cheaper. But Muhammad and Toney (since cut) were signed. ... and while these signings addressed immediate needs, former New York Jets defensive end Lawson continued to spark intrigue with his social media activity.

Once upon a time, Lawson was viewed as a star; the Jets signed him to a three-year, $45 million contract ahead of the 2021 season. But then he suffered a season-ending Achilles tear during training camp later that year. ... a trend that continues as he only played 23 games for New York over three years.

At his best?

In his rookie year of 2017, he had eight sacks for the Bengals. In 2020, he led the entire NFL in quarterback knockdowns. In 2022, the Jets got seven sacks from him.

Related: SOURCE: Cowboys Trade for ‘Nasty’ Giants DL Jordan Phillips

The 6-2, 265-pound Lawson, 29, who had been with the Jets for the last three seasons, posted a "star'' emoji on his Twitter account after the Williams injury. And then even after he didn't sign, flirted again with the concept on Twitter.

These posts generated significant buzz. But what really matters isn't Twitter, it's action. And in recent hours, Dallas signing veteran defensive tackle Jordan Phillips and now Lawson represent small but noteworthy moves in the right direction.