The contract of defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence is expected to be a major priority for the Dallas Cowboys this offseason. But while formal negotiations have yet to begin, Lawrence’s agent, David Canter, expects those talks to pick up in a few weeks as he also plans on meeting with the team at the NFL combine on Feb. 28, ESPN’s Jenna Laine reports.

Canter doesn’t seem overly concerned about the possibility that the Cowboys will allow his client to hit free agency.

“I would imagine that they're probably not just letting us get to free agency and leave Dallas, Canter said. “It's really up to them to want to do a deal that's in line with what the market is for a young, ascending, elite franchise-caliber defensive end. Whatever that number ends up being remains to be seen. But I do imagine and believe that we'll have multiple conversations over the next month or so. I think it's early right now.”

Lawrence also expressed his confidence in his agent to get the big long-term deal he’s looking for.

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“I'm not worried about it. I'm gonna let my agent worry about that part. … I believe and trust in him 100 percent to get the job done.”

After a down year in 2016, the 25-year-old Lawrence had a career year in 2017 as he finished with 14.5 sacks, which was tied for second in the league with Calais Campbell.

While the Cowboys don’t think they can get a long-term deal done with defensive tackle David Irving, they will likely work very hard to lock up Lawrence, who is one of their big young stars on the defensive end, as opposed to using the franchise tag on him.