Tyron Smith is officially gone and the Dallas Cowboys now face quite the road to replacing him.
The chances of having a good weekend took a turn on Friday night when it was reported that longtime Dallas Cowboys left tackle Tyron Smith was joining the New York Jets in free agency. It is a 1-year deal worth up to $20M, but much of that money is from playing incentives.
Consider that the last NFL game to be played before Tyron Smith was a member of the league was the Super Bowl that Mike McCarthy won at then-Cowboys Stadium as the head coach of the Green Bay Packers. It has obviously been quite the while.
Even though Smith has missed plenty of time over the last few season (he has not played a full season since 2015 and prior to 2023 had missed significant time three years running), that he is now elsewhere means he will be completely unavailable to the Cowboys. It is fair to say that it was time for them to live in finality one way or another with him, but the context of the season before them matters as well which makes watching him walk difficult.
What exactly is that context? Where does the team go from here? The first domino has fallen along the offensive line and we are about to watch the rest go.
The Cowboys will have at least two new starters along the offensive line next season
Technically speaking, Smith is not the first domino to fall for the Cowboys given that center Tyler Biadasz left in free agency for the Washington Commanders. With two of the primary starters from last season now on different teams the Cowboys will at the very least have two different starters ahead of Dak Prescott.
Even if the team experienced no turnover elsewhere (which obviously is not the case for this group right now) this would be a significant problem to deal with. Dallas holds the 24th overall pick in the NFL Draft and selecting a tackle there is one of the better bets. Given the departure of Tony Pollard and that they have not brought in a running back to date, they have also established a neon light around the notion that they will be selecting a runner early on as well. Of course, both things could change if they do make a significant move in free agency.
The bogus ‘all-in’ claim from Jerry Jones aside, this is a team with significant expectations in 2024. Even if they do plan on moving on from the quarterback and/or head coach in 2025 going at any season with such turnover is a precarious thing to do.
Tyler Smith may be a very good left tackle in 2024, but there will still be some drop off
Obviously Tyron Smith did not play all of last season but to our collective shock he suited up for 13 regular season games and the lone playoff contest. It was an aberration of sorts relative to recent history (part of the argument for moving on) but when he was in action he was his usually-excellent self.
Tyler Smith played left tackle for the majority of his rookie season (an example of how trusting Tyron’s health can bite a team nowadays), but the reality is that while he may be very good next season that he likely will not be at the level of Tyron right away.
This is not a knock on Tyler by any stretch, but the Cowboys just received an incredible season from Tyron. It is worth mentioning that even 2024 Tyron would have a hard time reaching his past season’s self (although the Jets are clearly betting on that), but there will undoubtedly be a dip in left tackle play even if it is from great to good.
And what if Tyler is playing left tackle and not left guard? Now we are talking about a technically new left tackle, a new left guard to replace Tyler and a new center to replace the other Tyler (the names are at the very least going to become more clear if you are looking for a silver lining). From center on out the left side of the line could be totally different, once again in a season of serious consequence.
Watching Tyron Smith leave the Cowboys is a painful thing for all of us. but if has not been made clear there is a clear argument for doing so given the last few years. But while the move can be survived by the team, it can only really be done with the proper motions and sequences in place around allowing it to happen. So far, the Cowboys have not done that so they have let this major thing happen without a safety net underneath them.
Yes, the Cowboys will very likely add to the offensive line early on in the NFL draft, but they are under intense pressure to hit on that pick. That isn’t an argument to have kept Tyron Smith on its own. but to have done enough work throughout free agency to make sure that his departure could be properly survived.
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