Getty Cowboys owner Jerry Jones with head coach Mike McCarthy.
More details are emerging about the final weeks leading up to the Dallas Cowboys’ decision to release linebacker Jaylon Smith. During an interview with Dallas’ 105.3 the Fan, NFL Network’s Jane Slater revealed that members of the Cowboys front office were calling the coaching staff to emphasize not to play Smith.
The Cowboys were worried about Smith sustaining an injury and activating his 2022 salary. Essentially, the release of Smith took the option of playing the veteran permanently off the table for the coaching staff.
“So, I had a team and now another one reach out to me and say, ‘You know how aggressive the Cowboys have been in the last two weeks trying to trade Jaylon?'” Slater explained. “Oh, if you’ll notice he had spent more time on the bench in these last four games than he had in the last two seasons combined. And I was told that [was] because the Cowboys were calling down there and saying we don’t want him playing because if he was to injure himself or have to have another cleanup surgery in the offseason, they’d be on the hook for 9.2 million [in 2022].”
Smith was utilized on less than 50 percent of the snaps in two out of his four weeks with the Cowboys this season. The linebacker played in 41% of the snaps against the Panthers in Week 4 just days before his release. Smith signed with the Packers where he is expected to start.
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The Cowboys Attempted to Trade Smith Prior to His Release
One of the big questions surrounding the release of Smith is why the Cowboys did not trade the linebacker. Slater noted the Cowboys had been attempting to deal Smith for some time, but his offseason wrist surgery put a damper on the discussions.
“It wasn’t the move that surprised me, I had called a few teams last year because I was told the Cowboys had tried to trade him, and I’d had a few GMs walk me off the ledge there,” Slater detailed. “In other words, I don’t know how serious it got, maybe they didn’t want to characterize it, but there are also a lot of GMs that are friends with [Cowboys vice president] Stephen Jones [and] the Cowboys, and you don’t want to make a situation tenuous for that player by actively putting it out there that they’re trying to trade him, right?
“So, then he gets his offseason wrist surgery which immediately kicked in that guaranteed $7.2 million [salary]. Alright, so now they’re on the hook, so now they’ve got it. He’s on your roster, you’re still trying to find trade partners, they’re unsuccessful and then you start getting these guys playing really well, your younger guys.”
McCarthy Said Smith’s Release Provided ‘More Clarity [on] Defensive Packages & Personnel Groups’
The Cowboys have been a bit vague about the specifics that went into the team’s decision to release Smith. Slater’s report provides a bit more context to Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy noting that the team now has “a little more clarity of defensive packages and personnel groups” after Smith’s release.
“But yeah, I’m not trying to send a message to the locker room, that’s not where we are,” McCarthy noted on October 6. “We’re building on getting better every day. We’ve had some success [the] last couple weeks. We’ve got an excellent opponent coming in here, but this is about progress and a little more clarity of defensive packages and personnel groups and how we want to play.”