Tyron Smith and the importance of the price point

Did the Jets get a bargain with Tyron Smith?

In a surprising move, the New York Jets stole the BFL free agency show by signing former Dallas Cowboys left tackle Tyron Smith.

Shortly after signing, the report released that the deal was for one year and $20 million. While Tyron Smith is a great player, that’s a ton of money. And specifically, that’s a ton of money for a player who is generally considered injury prone, with numbers that back it up. Indeed, over the last 8 years, the below has been how many games he’s played.

• 2016: 13
• 2017: 13
• 2018: 13
• 2019: 13
• 2020: 2
• 2021: 11
• 2022: 4
• 2023: 13

The expression “the best ability is availability” exists for a reason. An injured player adds nothing to the team’s likelihood of winning, regardless of how good they are. For someone like me who leans towards safe moves in free agency, this move at this price point was admittedly a deal I not only disliked but outright hated.

Then the details of the deal were revealed, and they portrayed the deal in a very different light.

And at this point, I did a 180 on the deal. Turns out, they’re paying Smith like an elite tackle only if he’s on the field enough to provide value like one. A great reminder that one can like a player at one price point, but not at another. Kind of like when a team takes a player you “liked” in round 4 but would’ve questioned the sanity of the entire team had they taken him in round 1.

Beyond that reminder, this is a really shrewd deal by the Jets. It’s a $6.5 million gamble on a player who could very well be the Jets best offensive player next season. And if he isn’t, then the Jets still walk away with a more than manageable piece of lost cap space via the really team-friendly structure of the deal.

Overall, great job by the team’s negotiators here. Kudos are more than deserved.

Fingers crossed Smith earns all of those incentives, because if the does, then the Jets are probably having a great season. Talk about a win-win.