The fact the Dallas Cowboys have had to trade for not 1 but 2 different Pro Bowl defensive tackles in the last calendar year, with Kenny Clark and Quinnen Williams, speaks to how desperate they were at the position.
The reason things reached that point was also very clear. Using their 1st round pick in 2023 on defensive tackle Mazi Smith set them back several years on the interior defensive line, which in turn set the entire defense back as a whole.
Shipped off to the New York Jets at the 2025 NFL trade deadline in the deal that brought Williams to the Cowboys, Smith is now at the top of a list of NFL players who could use a career “reboot” from Bleacher Report’s Brent Sobleski.
“Mazi Smith’s potential is built upon an obvious contradiction,” Sobleski wrote. “The 6’3″, 323-pound defensive lineman is an elite athlete. At the same time, he’s a poor technician. One negates the other … it now falls on the Jets’ staff to ensure the nose tackle can realize some of his immense upside. At bare minimum, Smith can be an effective space-eater simply by firing off the ball with good pad level to take advantage of his brute strength and powerful hands. He doesn’t need to be a disruptive playmaker. New York now has significant talent found among its front seven. Smith’s concentration should be focused on playing low, doing the dirty work in the trenches and making life easier for everyone around him.”
Jets Already Signaled Plans for Mazi Smith
The Jets may have already decided Smith is a lost cause. They declined the 5th year option on his contract ahead of the May 1 deadline and will instead let him play out the final season of his 4-year, $13.27 million rookie contract in 2026.
Smith was a throw-in as part of the trade for Williams, with the Cowboys also giving up a 2027 1st round pick and 2026 2nd round pick.
In retrospect, Smith seems to be the least important part of that trade.
“The Jets declined to exercise the fifth-year option for DT Mazi Smith, whom they acquired from Dallas in the Quinnen Williams trade,” ESPN’s Rich Cimini wrote on his official X account on Wednesday. “Smith, who played only three games (54 snaps) for the Jets last season, is under contract for the coming season. He will be a free agent in 2027.”
Mazi Smith Called ‘Worst 1st Round Pick’
Before the 2025 season, Bleacher Report’s Matt Holder took it a step further and called Smith the Cowboys’ “Worst First Round Pick” in the last 5 years.
“(Offensive tackle) Tyler Guyton is threatening to take Smith’s spot here after struggling as a rookie,” Holder wrote in June 2025. “However, the latter has had more time to get his feet wet in the NFL and still looks like a fish out of water. The Michigan product was drafted to help stop the run but has earned run-defense grades in the 30s from Pro Football Focus in his two seasons.”
Smith’s 34.7 overall grade from Pro Football Focus in 2024 — his last complete season — put him among the worst defensive tackles in the NFL at 207th out of 219 eligible players at his position.
$13.2 Million Cowboys 1st Round Pick in Need of Career ‘Reboot’