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There was no way Carl Lawson was not going to accept a $6 million pay cut to stay with the Jets … especially not after he knew Aaron Rodgers would be his quarterback.
“Almost like God is talking to me,” Lawson said. “ ’Cause my career started chasing this quarterback. I got four sacks against him, and my career damn near ended in the pursuit of this quarterback. So, kind of a no-brainer from upstairs, you feel like, ‘Hey, you need to be here.’”
Lawson was referencing his 2.5-sack day against Rodgers as a Bengals rookie in 2017 — another sack was negated by a penalty — as well as his ruptured Achilles that cost him the entire 2021 season suffered during joint practices in Green Bay.
He was asked if he has reminded Rodgers of the single best day of his NFL career.
“I think he knows,” Lawson said and smiled. “He looks at me, he’s like ‘58, chill.’ I’m a rookie, I’m like, ‘We’re blowing you all out.’”
Until Rodgers overcame a 21-7 halftime deficit for a 27-24 overtime win.
“I was like, ‘All right, … I see why he’s that guy,’” Lawson said.
Lawson vowed he would be that guy this season at Tuesday’s OTA.
“I haven’t felt like this in … I think ever,” Lawson said.
Does he feel double-digit-sacks good? “Yes. … That’s a goal and that’s gonna happen.”
How does he know? “Faith.”
Faith and a powerful, freakish body, a rare drive, and an iron will to persevere and overcome … two torn ACLs and the Achilles for starters.
“I don’t think any other athlete has ever done anything I’ve ever done,” Lawson said. “I don’t think any athlete has ever had this many amount of serious injuries and come back better each time. I don’t think many fourth-round picks made it to a second contract.
“But in my mind, I still haven’t accomplished much. I feel like I’ve done well, really, really well … not what I want, but I’m doing really, really well.”
Coach Robert Saleh mentioned how much better former Seahawks-49ers cornerback Richard Sherman was in his second year back from his torn Achilles, and expects the same from Lawson … who recorded seven sacks last season in his first year back from devastation.
“The first year you’re not quite where you want to be, and then that second year everything comes back,” Saleh said Tuesday. “[Monday] was the first day we’ve seen him. He looks freaking awesome.
“I’m really excited for him and what he can do having two years removed from that injury.”
Woody Johnson stopped by for a short chat with Lawson before practice, and GM Joe Douglas followed moments later.
Safe to say the conversations had nothing to do with Lawson’s pay cut, from $15M to $9M, or Douglas using the 15th pick of the draft on edge rusher Will McDonald.
Lawson would only be human if those two developments didn’t light a fire under him as he enters, at age 28, the last year of the three-year, $45M deal he signed in free agency.
“I can add that to the list,” Lawson said. “I’ve been in the NFL for so long, I’ve never been on a winning team, I haven’t made my Pro Bowl, I haven’t made a Super Bowl. I’ve had multiple, multiple injuries, and I’ve come back better each time. That motivation that you’re talking about is like a speck compared to some of the stuff that goes through my head every single day.”
A double-digit sack season would be Lawson’s first.
His career high (8.5) came as a rookie.
As much as he joins the entire building in welcoming and embracing Rodgers, he might actually miss playing against him in one tiny way.
“Honestly, I think it’s easier to sack Aaron Rodgers than most quarterbacks,” Lawson said before the 2019 season on NFL Network’s “Good Morning Football.” “He sits there, and he pats the ball. At the same time, sacking him don’t mean nothing if you don’t do it for four quarters. You know, he came back against us.”
“So, I mean, he’s an easier quarterback for me to sack personally, because he sits there and he probably gets 8 to 10 yards in the pocket. … He waits, he waits, getting that read. When he gets sacked, he doesn’t get flustered. I only saw him get flustered one time when I did sack him.”
The heat will now be on Lawson to bring the heat on quarterbacks not named Aaron Rodgers, alongside stud Quinnen Williams.
Lawson wants to play until he is 35, and he wants to retire as a Jet, and it’s not merely because they serve bison in the cafeteria.
“I just want to be able to give them the best version of myself in the time that I’m here,” Lawson said.
“Game wrecker!” is how Saleh greeted McDonald when he grabbed the phone in the Jets’ war room. … And a game wrecker is what Carl Lawson intends to be.
