Jerry Jones Says Cowboys Couldn't Afford to Keep Tyron Smith in FA amid Jets Contract

The Dallas Cowboys had a solid option at left tackle in Tyron Smith, but owner Jerry Jones said the team couldn't afford to keep him around with the chance that he hit his incentive deals on his contract, per the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's Clarence Hill.

Smith, who is coming off a one-year, $6 million restructured contract with Dallas, entered free agency and signed a one-year deal worth up to $20 million with the New York Jets.

Though Smith will receive a base salary of just $6.5 million in New York, he will have the chance to make another $750,000 if he plays 38 percent of the snaps and can earn $12 million in total if he plays 68 percent of the Jets' offensive snaps. Those incentives made Smith unaffordable for the Cowboys.

The option at left tackle now is Tyler Smith, which Jones said is a "viable thing."

"I'd say that's a good, viable thing. . . . Keep the idea there. Don't dismiss that idea," Jones said of moving Tyler Smith, per Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News (h/t Pro Football Talk's Charean Williams). "Certainly, he's potentially, I want to say, a great player at left tackle."

Last season, Tyler Smith played 942 snaps earning a 72.9 PFF grade. He will have big shoes to fill after Tyron Smith, a 2023 second-team All-Pro member, but he could help Dallas improve after last year's disappointing wild-card round exit.