One day after a 2024 opponent for the Pittsburgh Steelers added pass rush help with the Atlanta Falcons trading for veteran outside linebacker Matthew Judon from the New England Patriots, another 2024 opponent for the Steelers is adding to the pass rush.
The Dallas Cowboys are signing a familiar face in veteran pass rusher Carl Lawson, beefing up the EDGE depth ahead of the Week 5 Sunday Night Football matchup against the Steelers, according to a report from NFL Insider Tom Pelissero.
Along with signing Carl Lawson, the Cowboys also traded for veteran defensive lineman Jordan Phillips, strengthening the defensive front.
Carl Lawson is a player the Steelers are quite familiar with. Lawson was a fourth-round pick of the Cincinnati Bengals in the 2017 NFL Draft coming out of Auburn and spent four seasons with the Bengals. In those four seasons, Lawson recorded 20.0 sacks for the Bengals in 51 career games, starting 14 for Cincinnati.
He battled injuries along the way and missed most of the 2018 season, but when he was on the field, he was a force to be reckoned with as a pass rusher in the AFC North. During his four seasons in Cincinnati, Lawson had a pass rush grade from Pro Football Focus of 75.1 or higher in three of the four seasons, including two seasons of 80.9 or higher.
Lawson generated 103 pressures in four seasons with the Bengals, too.
He was a player the Steelers were interested in leading up to the 2017 NFL Draft, with head coach Mike Tomlin and former GM Kevin Colbert attending the Auburn Pro Day and taking Lawson out to dinner.
Ahead of the first matchup between the Steelers in 2017, Tomlin spoke highly of Lawson.
“They have a talented young guy to add to the fold in Lawson out of Auburn,” Tomlin said, according to an AL.com piece from 2017. “Looked at him heavy last year in the draft. I was actually down there for his pro day. I had an opportunity to take him out to dinner and so forth. Quality young man. Talented rusher. Not surprised by the work that he’s doing for them.”
Following his time in Cincinnati, Carl Lawson signed with the New York Jets on a three-year, $45 million deal and spent the last three seasons in New York. In New York, he played just 23 games, missing the entire 2021 season and then most of the 2023 season. In his time in New York, Lawson recorded just seven sacks, all of which came in 2022.
Now, he’s back healthy and had multiple workouts with teams in recent weeks before the Cowboys snatched him up Thursday morning. This gives Dallas more juice off the edge with the likes of DeMarcus Lawrence and Micah Parsons after Dallas lost Sam Williams earlier in the offseason to a torn ACL.
The Steelers and Cowboys will kick off on Sunday, Oct. 6 at 8:20 p.m. at Acrisure Stadium on Sunday Night Football.
