The Jacksonville Jaguars brought Dawuane Smoot back last season, which wasn’t a given.
But this time around, they opted not to have Smoot on their roster to begin the 2026 NFL season, and he has instead signed elsewhere.
On Monday, the defensive lineman Smoot signed with the New York Giants. He will join their practice squad, according to the NFL’s official transaction report.
Smoot had yet to be under contract with a team this season, and he joins the Giants after the completion of Week 5 of the 2026 season.
The Jags, at 4-1, don’t necessarily need Smoot, but it’s still been rare to see him in an NFL jersey other than Jacksonville’s.
Dawuane Smoot With Jaguars
The Jaguars chose Smoot in the third round of the 2017 NFL Draft out of Illinois with the No. 68 overall pick.
Originally from the state of Ohio, Smoot made a home for himself in Jacksonville.
He spent the first seven seasons of his career with the Jaguars. That included four consecutive seasons of between 5.0 and 6.5 sacks from 2019 through 2022. Smoot also forced six fumbles during that Jacksonville stint.
He left for the 2024 season to play with the Buffalo Bills. He appeared in 11 games there and had 1.5 sacks.
Smoot came back to the Jags for 2025. He appeared in all 17 regular season games last year and had 23 tackles with 2.0 sacks.
All told, Smoot has played 116 of his 127 NFL games with the Jaguars and has 25.5 of his 27.0 sacks in a Jacksonville uniform.
Now 31, the 6-foot-3, 275-pound defensive end is certainly on the downswing of his career. That’s likely why the Jaguars opted not to bring him aboard.
Instead, he heads to the Giants, who have high-end talent at the top of their defensive line charts but could definitely use the added depth.
Jaguars-Giants Game Upcoming
It won’t be some super highly anticipated revenge game, but these teams do play later in the season.
On Nov. 22, the Jaguars travel to New Jersey where they will play at the Giants in a 1 p.m. ET kickoff on that Sunday.
Whether or not Smoot is playing is in question. His current practice squad placement means he’ll have to work his way up to the gameday roster.
But he’s got more than a month to earn that promotion before the Giants play the Jaguars.
NFL teams are also sometimes a tiny bit sentimental, and maybe the Giants would do something to get Smoot on the field in that game even if otherwise he doesn’t make a ton of contributions.
Ex-Jaguars 3rd-Round Pick Signs With Giants After 8 Seasons in Jacksonville