The Dallas Cowboys went into the season with a series of prove-it deals on their reimagined defense. Those imaginations were not up to par as several players who were inked to either one-year deals or escapable two-year deals have been banished from the establishment. Released were signings Daryl Worley, Ha Ha Clinton-Dix and Dontari Poe. Traded was signing Everson Griffen. Not many names remained with the defense from the Cowboys free agency haul of 2020.
Aldon Smith remained, though. The reclamation project who was inked to add some firepower to the club’s pass rush has done just that, leading the team in sacks this year with 4. For everything that has gone wrong with the Dallas defense in 2020, the decision to sign Smith has gone ridiculously right and as such, the club has no intention to move him for draft or other player considerations. According to Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network, they rebuffed an offer from the Seattle Seahawks this week.
From @gmfb Weekend: The #Cowboys have parted ways with a few defensive players but one guy they refused to trade when teams called recently was Aldon Smith, whose career resurgence should eventually lead to a longer-term deal with Dallas. pic.twitter.com/eMiiaOlrAn
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) October 31, 2020
Whether or not Dallas is interested in working out a long-term deal or just want more than what Seattle has offered remains to be seen. The NFL trade deadline is Tuesday, November 3.
Smith not only has the four sacks, but ranks as the No. 8 edge defender according to Pro Football Focus’ pass-rush productivity metric. Combined with DeMarcus Lawrence (No. 25), they form one of the league’s better duos. The issue is that there is no semblance of a pass rush from the interior of the defensive line, allowing quarterbacks to step up and get away far too often.
Another offseason signing, Gerald McCoy, was meant to be the fix at the 3-tech position, but a quad injury in training camp led to his release. Trysten Hill, a second-year pro and second-round pick, tore his ACL early in the year and is done for the season as well.
If Garafolo’s report is accurate, the Cowboys are looking to have their core of pass rushers together for the next few seasons. Randy Gregory was recently added back to the roster and played his first game in Week 7, he, 2018 fourth-round pick Dorance Armstrong and 2020 fifth-round selection Bradlee Anae are all looking to take advantage of the 40 snaps a game vacated by Griffen.
Those players are all locked in for 2021 already. If Dallas does work out an extension with Smith, the group should be able to grow into Mike Nolan’s defense, provided the defensive coordinator survives into 2021 himself.
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