Cowboys Turned Down Trade Offers for Jaylon Smith, Says Insider

Cowboys Rumors

Getty The Dallas Cowboys have a lot of regrets when it comes to Jaylon Smith.

The Dallas Cowboys are prepared to abruptly release Jaylon Smith after rumors swirled about his future throughout the offseason. More surprising than the Cowboys releasing Smith is the fact the team could not find a trade partner to even land a late-round future draft pick for the former Pro Bowl linebacker.

CBS Sports’ Patrik Walker reported the Cowboys received trade offers for Smith in the spring but turned them down likely due to the attractiveness of the potential deals combined with the uncertainty of their rookies.

“The Cowboys were getting trade interest on Jaylon Smith in the spring, but didn’t pull any triggers — presumably not liking the offers combined with wanting to see how the LB rotation would shake out w/ two rookies in the mix,” Walker noted on Twitter. “Now, I’m told, trade interest waned so, released.”

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The Cowboys Still Have a Chance to Make a Last-Minute Trade on October 6, But a Deal Is Unlikely

According to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, the Cowboys could still pull off a last-minute trade as Smith’s release does not become official until transactions are announced late in the afternoon on October 6. Multiple NFL insiders reported the Cowboys exhausted all of the available options and are prepared to cut Smith.

“The Cowboys are moving on from LB Jaylon Smith, as @AdamSchefter reported,” Garafolo said in a series of tweets. “The move isn’t official until tomorrow afternoon, so there’s still the possibility of a trade, though that doesn’t seem very likely. A trade isn’t likely because the Cowboys have already explored that option, source say, and he has the balance of his $7.2 million base salary for this season plus $9.2 million in injury guarantees next year. The latter part is a huge reason the team is moving on right now.”


Smith’s Eventual Release Is Motivated by Salary Reasons

The timing of Smith’s release has many fans searching for a bigger reason, but all indications are the move is strictly connected to his six-year, $68 million contract that ran through 2024. NFL Network’s Jane Slater reported there was no incident that prompted Smith’s surprising release.

“I’ve talked to people close to Jaylon and team sources now and I was told there was absolutely no incident that precipitated this ‘Just making a move. Other guys playing better’ per one team source,” Slater tweeted.


The Cowboys Wanted to Avoid Smith’s 2022 Salary Becoming Fully Guaranteed

Linebacker is arguably the Cowboys’ deepest position and Smith’s release is expected to open up more snaps for rookie Jabril Cox. According to Walker, the Cowboys could get some of Smith’s salary back for this season if he is signed by another team, but Dallas also wanted to avoid being on the hook for the linebacker’s salary in 2022 if he sustained an injury. The Cowboys would clearly like a do-over by trading the linebacker this offseason but did not want to continue making bad decisions by being responsible for Smith’s salary past this year.

“To that point, there’s an added dice roll here for the Cowboys, because should Smith sign elsewhere, there’s offset language in his contract that would likely delete some of the $7.6 million cap hit for his release,” Walker detailed. “It’s a financial chess move of sorts by Jones and the Cowboys, hoping to avoid the full cap penalty for the remainder of 2021 while also dodging a near $10 million hit in 2022, should Smith go down with injury.”

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