Cowboys draft pass rusher with pick from Packers in Micah Parsons trade

GREEN BAY – The Green Bay Packers could benefit from adding to their edge rush in this draft. They would have been able to do so in the first round with Central Florida’s Malachi Lawrence, drafted 23rd overall by the Dallas Cowboys.

Of course, the Packers wouldn’t have Micah Parsons on their roster if they’d done so.

The Cowboys drafted Lawrence with the pick they gained from the Packers in last year’s blockbuster Parsons trade. The trade, which also sent a 2027 first-round pick to the Cowboys, forced general manager Brian Gutekunst to sit back and watch the opening round unfold.

Not that Gutekunst regrets anything.

Central Florida defensive end Malachi Lawrence sacks Kansas quarterback Jason Bean.

“The player we got with that pick,” Gutekunst said earlier this week, “I'm good with.”

Lawrence has a first-round caliber blend of size and speed, measuring 6-4 3/8-inch, 253-pound edge defender with a 4.52-second 40-yard dash at the NFL scouting combine. His dash time included an explosive 1.59-second 10-yard split.

A four-year senior, he had 19.5 sacks and 27.5 tackles for loss in his final three college seasons. Eventually, that production could help replace the seismic void Parsons’ departure left in the Cowboys’ pass rush.

Parsons, of course, is a generational talent who became the first player in NFL history with at least a dozen sacks in each of his first five seasons last year.