Shaq Lawson faced a ‘do-or-die’ season in 2019. He earned a $30M deal with Dolphins.
Shaq Lawson knew he couldn’t be comfortable heading into last season. The Buffalo Bills, who had picked him in the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft just three years prior, opted not to pick up his fifth-year option. Lawson, who reached a deal with the Miami Dolphins on Monday, went into his fourth season with the Bills having no idea what his future would look like.
“I ain’t concerned. It’s motivation. I know what time it is. It’s do or die,” Lawson said before the 2019 season. “I’ve been through a situation like this before. It’s just a small step. Me, I’m just gonna go out there and ball this year and see where everything falls.”
His opportunities were fewer than they had been in the past and still Lawson put together perhaps the best season of his career. For the first time in his four-year career, Lawson didn’t start a single game and still he logged a career-high 6 1/2 sacks playing in his new rotational role to go along with 13 tackles for loss — more than he had in his first three seasons combined.
On Monday, Lawson parlayed his breakthrough season into a significant contract. The defensive end agreed to a three-year, $30 million deal with the Dolphins. Now, he and fellow edge rusher Kyle Van Noy will both transition from being cogs in a some of the NFL’s best defenses to being the centerpieces of Miami’s front seven. With Lawson, the Dolphins are betting a change of scenery will benefit the defensive lineman, who has already flashed serious signs of growth in recent seasons.
Lawson had trouble shaking the “bust” label early in his career. He was the No. 19 overall pick in 2016, then logged just 13 total tackles as a rookie. In Lawson’s second season, the Bills pushed him into the starting lineup and the edge rusher managed just four sacks.
It finally started to change last year after Buffalo decided it was going to let him test free agency after his fourth season rather than extend him another year on an affordable contract. Lawson had three sacks in the Bills’ first 10 games, but Denver Broncos guard Connor McGovern still told Lawson he had never heard of the end, Lawson said. Lawson responded by adding two more sacks in Buffalo’s win against the Broncos.
“He is one of our catalysts,” Bills coach Sean McDermott said the next day. “Whether it’s offensively or defensively, he is respected on both sides of the ball for how he brings it every day.”
When Lawson is good, he’s great. Pro Football Focus ranked him as the 16th-best pass rusher among edge defenders who played at least 250 snaps and ranked him 10th among edge defenders in proficiency against the run. He did, however, miss 11 tackles after missing just three in his first three seasons.
For evidence of his upside, look to Buffalo’s win against the Baltimore Ravens late last year. The Bills held quarterback Lamar Jackson and the Ravens to a season-low 118 rushing yards, which earned him praise from McDermott.
The coach had been watching Lawson closely since the end’s second season in the league. After a few years of disappointment, Lawson was playing as disciplined as ever and his career was fully on track.
“He’s one of the dogs force that goes out and hunts,” McDermott said. “To see Shaq play with square pads and at the line of scrimmage, move his feet and contain an athlete like that was very impressive and it just speaks to his discipline, being 1/11th and doing his part.”
Said Lawson: “You can tell, everything just changed with the culture, bringing the right guys in. Coach McDermott and Beane did everybody a favor, especially me. It turned me around as a player because when I first got here — to me, it felt like a damn party. ... Ever since then, I’ve been progressing as a player.”
This story was originally published March 19, 2020 at 11:32 AM.
