Red Bulls give Taxi a new contract

On a Tuesday afternoon in September of the 25th the New York Red Bulls decided to keep their back line intact. In doing so they decided to make an offer to their Jamaican International Kemar Lawrence and signed him to a brand new deal to keep him at the club for a good while.

“Kemar has continued to grow as both a player and person here, and has earned this new contract,” said Red Bulls Sporting Director Denis Hamlett. “He is one of the best outside backs in our league, and his strengths make him a perfect fit for our team and our style of play. Kemar has played a key role in our success over the last few seasons and we’re pleased to have him continue to be part of our club.”

Since coming on the scene back in 2015, “Taxi” has been running rough shot all over the left side as a full back and he has helped convert some solid chances as well as assisting on several good balls to his teammates while on the attack.

Having him here with the Red Bulls, he has proven to be a solid player and when he is away on international duty with Jamaica. The most memorable moment he had in a yellow and black kit was during the 2017 Gold Cup when he converted a monster free kick that beat Mexico and put them back into the CONCACAF Gold Cup Final.

In over 117 games played in all competitions Lawrence has converted four goals and ten assists. He has played solid as a left back and has made some big game saving tackles to prevent the opposition from converting chances whenever he is sizing up his marker.

“Kemar has worked hard to establish himself as one of the best left backs in the league,” Head Coach Chris Armas said. “He takes pride in his one-on-one defending, he plays for the team, and continues to improve. Kemar is also fearless and we love the personality he adds to our team. This new contract is well deserved.”

You can tell he is a laid back person and looks like nothing fazes him, but when he gets on the field he becomes a terror and a threat to take the ball off your boots and then goes into an attacking run all on his own.

There was a lot of question marks throughout the season as there was some speculation that Lawrence was going to make a move to Europe, but now we see that he will remain with the Red Bulls and he will continue to patrol the left side of the pitch defending and bringing up the ball.

It’s a good thing to see Denis Hamlett trying to keep the pieces of the defensive puzzle for that backline and while he has a task to keep Tim Parker, we will see if the club can try to keep Michael Murillo around as well.

But for now Kemar Lawrence new contract will keep the Jamaican international around several years longer and to make that back line as strong as possible and that starts against Atlanta United this coming Sunday at Red Bull Arena.