Jerry Jones: Cowboys’ Tyler Smith is ‘working option’ at LT for 2024 – Todd Brock, Cowboys Wire
With the Cowboys having no clear plan at LT, everything remains on the table.
Tyler Smith could be on the move again.
The Tulsa product, who will turn 23 in early April, has been shuffled between left guard and left tackle ever since being selected in the first round of 2022’s draft. And amid another offseason of change for the Dallas front five, which position Smith will occupy in the coming year is of high concern, as it has the potential to drive other key choices, especially when it comes to a talented draft class of offensive tackles.
Despite turning in a Pro Bowl campaign in 2023 at guard, Smith may now be headed back to the position he was originally drafted for.
Clarence Hill Jr. of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported on Sunday that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is treating Smith as “the working option at left tackle” heading into draft weekend.
“I’d say that’s a good, viable thing,” Jones explained, per Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News. “Keep the idea there. Don’t dismiss the idea. … Certainly, he’s potentially– I want to say a great player at left tackle.”
Dallas got their first 3 2014 Draft picks right on the money – Richard Paolinelli, Inside The Star
Here’s to hoping history will repeat itself a decade later.
A decade ago the Cowboys went into the 2014 Draft with a poor draft history over the previous 20 years and managed to walk out with two potential Hall of Fame players.
With the 16th pick of the first round, the Cowboys took guard Zack Martin out of Notre Dame.
In 10 years, Martin has started in all 152 games he has played.
He’s only missed 10 games total in those 10 seasons.
The only season he was not named to the Pro Bowl was in 2020. That season he missed six games.
Martin will play at least one more season in Dallas before becoming an unrestricted free agent after the upcoming season.
When You’re Hot You’re Hot
When the second round began, the Washington Redskins had the second pick of the round and 34th overall of the draft.
The Cowboys moved up from the 47th spot and threw in their third-round pick to get Washington’s pick in the second round.
This time the trade paid major dividends for Dallas. They took defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence out of Boise State.
After an up-and-down run in his first three seasons, Lawrence flipped the switch in 2017.
In his last seven seasons, Lawrence has started in 103 games of the 105 games he has played in.
3 former Cowboys who won’t live up to their new contracts – Jerry Trotta, The Landry Hat
Despite the pain of inactivity, maybe Dallas made the right move in letting certain players walk.
2. C Tyler Biadasz
It was learned at the NFL Combine that Biadasz would have too strong of a market for Dallas to re-sign him. That wasn’t entirely surprising. While the Cowboys have great respect for Biadasz, the upcoming draft allows them to find an upgrade while getting cheaper. A lot cheaper, actually.
As Dan Quinn and general manager Adam Peters attempt to rebuild the Commanders’ offensive line, they overpaid for Biadasz. The official terms of Biadasz’s contract are three years for $29.25 million, including $20.7 million guaranteed. There isn’t a Cowboys fan out there that would argue he’s worth that much.
Biadasz’s guarantees are the seventh most amongst centers and his $9.75 million annual salary is eight-highest and more than David Andrews, Mitch Morse and Andre James. His guarantees are more than now-former Eagle Jason Kelce’s one-year deal, Ethan Pocic and Garrett Bradbury.
With all due respect to Biadasz, he’s no a top-10 center in the league. He clearly benefitted from a bloated salary cap and a lowly center market. He certainly isn’t a turnstile, but his struggles against beefy defensive lineman leaves us questioning if he’ll live up to his Commanders contract.
Cowboys’ Juanyeh Thomas Shares Exciting Offseason News – Isaiah De Los Santos, Sport DFW
In more positive news.
Unfortunately for Dallas Cowboys fans, the team has been incredibly quiet to begin the offseason. Most of the headlines involving Dallas have revolved around players or coaches leaving, instead of marquee additions.
However, Cowboy Nation finally got some exciting offseason news on Sunday.
Cowboys safety Juanyeh Thomas has announced the birth of his first child, Juanyeh Ajah Thomas Jr.
Big congrats to @STG_Yeh1 and his girl Brandi pic.twitter.com/4vl3sFnffE
— Nick Harris (@NickHarrisDC) March 24, 2024
Dallas safety Juanyeah Thomas announced on Instagram that he and his partner have welcomed their first child together, Juanyeh Ajah Thomas Jr. Thomas captioned his post, “My lil munchkin is here” with a heart emoji and said “Got you 4L [for life] baby boy.”
NFC Rankings: Where Do Dallas Cowboys Land After Eerily Quiet Free Agency? – Adam Schultz, Sports Illustrated
Where do you rank the Cowboys amongst the NFC’s contenders?
We would suggest that Dallas – maybe hanging on for dear life here – remains a top-four roster, in the NFC, behind only the San Francisco 49ers (1), Eagles (2) and Eagles (3).
The Cowboys still employ top-notch playmakers in Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, Micah Parsons, Trevon Diggs, DeMarcus Lawrence, Jake Ferguson and DaRon Bland, plus two blue-chip blockers in Zack Martin and Tyler Smith”The concern: What’s changed? They’ve stood pat, and the big-game hurdles remain.”
Dallas does have three centerpieces in Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, and Micah Parsons, who all could be seen as top 10 at their positions, if not higher. Is that enough for Dallas to be ranked so high?
Will the Cowboys bank on those three hitting the heights of previous seasons? With a roster that, on paper, isn’t as talented as last season, that seems a tall order. But there is still time for the franchise to do some dealings before the NFL Draft.
As far as Dallas being ranked as the fourth-best team in the NFC, after a quiet free agency along with several starters leaving, we admit that statement is on rather shaky ground.
Cowboys secondary has become the top defensive group on the roster, and what that means for Mike Zimmer – Sean Martin, Blogging The Boys
Make no mistake, Zimmer still has talent to work with.
With Zimmer’s specific area of expertise defensively being on the backend, the Cowboys were fortunate earlier this offseason to retain defensive backs coach Al Harris for a fifth season. Harris was a key part of Quinn’s staff in helping prepare the Cowboys cornerbacks each week, a group mainly responsible for Dallas leading the NFL in takeaways in 2021 and 2022. Harris is now the Cowboys assistant head coach, empowering him even further in an area where the Cowboys are seemingly depending on a lot more going into this season. Pairing DaRon Bland and Trevon Diggs together again after Diggs tore his ACL this season is the headline for the Cowboys secondary on paper right now, but the team also brought back veteran Jourdan Lewis and have Stephon Gilmore still available in free agency if they can negotiate a return.
Eric Scott Jr. is a second year cornerback still on the roster that immediately got labeled as a “Quinn guy” after the Cowboys traded up in the sixth round to take the lengthy defender out of Southern Mississippi, but his length and ability to stay in phase in man coverage make him a Zimmer scheme fit as well. Nahshon Wright and Josh Butler provide further depth at cornerback, while Donovan Wilson, Malik Hooker, Israel Mukuamu, and Juanyeh Thomas give Zimmer a deep and versatile group of safeties to work with. Of all the positions other than quarterback to link Dallas to in this year’s draft, the secondary feels like the only one relatively set enough to not expect anything more than depth picks being in play.
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