Stephen Jones: Cowboys 'don't want Lawrence going anywhere'

The Dallas Cowboys aren't prepared to let Demarcus Lawrence out of the building.

On the final year of his first contract, Lawrence racked up 14.5 sacks, second-most in the league in 2017. He's scheduled to hit free agency in March, but the Cowboys are making it known they won't let the 25-year-old out of their grasp.

"We don't want Demarcus Lawrence going anywhere," team chief operating officer Stephen Jones said at a collegiate award ceremony Thursday.

The Cowboys are expected to use their franchise tag to retain Lawrence's services for another year and force the player to earn his way to a longer deal with the team.

"We won't let D-Law not be a Dallas Cowboy next year. We'll get that straight right now," Jones said. "We're going to do everything we can to try and make something work and if we don't get it done, we'll franchise him. ... He's a guy we're gonna have around here one way or the other."