Good business or playing with fire: The Cowboys handling of the Tyron Smith decision (2024)

The Dallas Cowboys’ front office has faced much scrutiny this offseason. There are many reasons for this, but most of the frustration is due to letting too many of their players leave without replenishing their losses. No decision has created as much angst as the decision to move on from veteran left tackle Tyron Smith. After coming off one of his best seasons in many years, it’s a little distressing to imagine the team without his services for the first time in 14 years, but here we are. Smith held down the most critical offensive line position at left tackle, protecting the blindside of the franchise quarterback, Dak Prescott. Now, the team will put that responsibility on Tyler Guyton.

Is this just another move that scares people at first, only to be revealed as a good business decision? Or, is the front office playing with fire by transitioning from a proven veteran to an inexperienced rookie? And if this backfires, what will be the consequences? It’s important to lay everything out on the table to get a better feel for this situation. Only then will it be easier to determine if the front office made the right decision. Here are seven pieces to this puzzle that should be considered before drawing concrete conclusions.

Tyron Smith is a good player

Whenever one player leaves and another replaces them, it’s natural to want to believe that the departed player wasn’t all that good. That is not the case here. Smith is a good player. Before last season, it wouldn’t be too difficult to convince people that maybe, just maybe, he was finally starting to decline. But after his performance last season, it’s clear he still has plenty left in the tank. The Cowboys did a masterful job managing his health last season and it might very well be why he played at a high level and was able to start 13 games, the most he’s played since 2019.

Smith can still jump out of his stance in a hurry, position himself well, and use those long arms to keep defenders from getting into his chest. When he gets locked up with his man, there is very little edge rushers can do to outmaneuver him. Even at 33 years of age, he’s still a beast. We can talk about all the other aspects of this situation (and we will), but we must first acknowledge that Smith is a good player in a premium position.

Tyron Smith can’t stay on the field

It’s important to recognize what happened last season. It’s also important to remember what happened in the previous three seasons. After never missing more than three games in any of his first nine years in the league, suddenly Smith had problems staying healthy. As soon as he turned 30, his body started giving in. From 2020 to 2022, Smith missed two-thirds of the action, including two seasons where he missed at least 13 games.

It’s great to have Smith on the field, but during that three-year stretch he was just someone the team couldn’t rely on and that repeatedly forced the Cowboys to rely on their swing tackle. Any team counting on Smith as their starting left tackle needs to be prepared with a contingency plan should he get hurt.

They can’t afford to keep him around

When you look at his new deal with the Jets, it’s hard not to be a little jelly. His new team is well aware of his past and was smart to construct an incentive-based deal similar to what the Cowboys constructed last year. The details of his deal can be broken down as follows:

• $6.5 million guaranteed, he gets that no matter what
• Approximately another million for every game after the first six games, that has the potential to add another $12 million to his bank account
• A $500,000 bonus for making the Pro Bowl
• A $250,000 bonus for every Jets playoff win he participates in

Smith will make $6.5 million in 2024 with a chance to earn up to $20 million if he hits every incentive. As a frame of reference, this equates to $12.25 million if he played the same amount as last year.

This feels like the perfect scenario. If he’s healthy, great. They pay more, but they get a proven commodity. If not, he won’t cost as much. How can you not go for that? For the Cowboys, money is scarce. We’ve already explained the financial challenges facing the Cowboys by keeping Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, and Micah Parsons, and those decisions will impact other decisions. They must be diligent with their cap resources and don’t want to use those funds on Smith. When Jerry Jones says they couldn’t afford Smith hitting those incentives, he’s right, because they have other plans for that money.

They need to move on sooner or later

Whether the Cowboys kept Smith around this season or not, they would still need to be on the lookout for a replacement. Even his new deal with the New York Jets is only for one year, so people know his number could be up anytime. The Cowboys understood what they faced and decided to rip off the band-aid and move forward with a long-term plan rather than scrambling later. They also believed that the opportunity to address this was now, which brings us to our next line item.

The Cowboys had this draft figured out

It’s no secret that the most recent draft was rich in talent along the offensive line. Nine offensive linemen were selected in the first round. The Cowboys felt strongly that one of the best players on their board when pick 24 came around would be a starting-caliber offensive tackle. The draft was so rich with OT talent, that the Cowboys knew they could trade back a few spots and still get the guy they wanted. The front office deserves a lot of credit for understanding the talent layout in the draft and turning the 24th overall pick into two picks where they landed two offensive linemen who have a good chance to replace the two offensive linemen they just lost in free agency. They weren’t just lucky. They knew what they were doing.

Tyler Guyton offers great upside

The Cowboys love their new offensive tackle because he fits the mold of what they look for, and let’s face it, this team is very good at evaluating offensive linemen early in the draft. The size, the athleticism, it’s all there. Guyton has the length to keep defenders at bay, the hand strength to effectively fend off pass rushers, and the foot speed to jump out of his stance or glide down the field. He has the tools.

Guyton is also very raw. His college experience is limited and needs work before he can untap his full potential. His fundamentals need refining and his processing is a little delayed, so there will be hiccups. The Cowboys hope they can harness his talent into favorable results sooner rather than later, however, what if they can’t? That brings us to our last item.

The emergency plan

If Guyton struggles, the Cowboys can’t allow Prescott to be a sitting duck. The team re-signed veteran Chuma Edoga, so that will be one option, but considering how he played last year, that doesn’t make anyone feel comfortable about the situation. And there may even be some opportunities for young guys like Asim Richards or Nathan Thomas to give it a go, but that’s a risky backup plan.

Fortunately, the Cowboys have an ace up their sleeve in Tyler Smith. It should be noted, that this is a “break glass in case of emergency” type of plan. The team doesn’t want to move their All-Pro left guard. Doing so would then compromise two positions instead of just one. While the Cowboys have a plan to insert a young tackle into the rotation, they do have Smith in their back pocket who should still be able to give the offense a fighting chance.

Factoring in all of these things together, how do you feel about the Tyron Smith departure?