Cowboys' Mazi Smith Reportedly Available in Trades, Healthy Inactive vs. Cardinals

The Dallas Cowboys reportedly are looking to move on from a member of their defense ahead of the NFL trade deadline on Tuesday.

Per NFL insider Jordan Schultz, defensive tackle Mazi Smith is a healthy inactive for Monday's game against the Arizona Cardinals and "he's viewed around the NFL as a player available on the trade market."

NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported on Sunday that Dallas "appears to be open to trading" Smith, noting that the team is eyeing a pass rusher after trading away Micah Parsons in August.

The Cowboys drafted Smith with the 26th overall pick in 2023, but he hasn't exactly lived up to his first-round status.

As a rookie, he had 13 tackles, three tackles for loss and a sack before recording 41 tackles, four tackles for loss and a sack last year. This season, Smith has appeared in just five games and has logged just three tackles. He has played just 89 snaps in 2025, which ranks 132nd out of 202 defensive linemen.

Smith was a toss-up to make the Cowboys' 53-man roster heading into the season after a strong finish to the offseason from Perrion Winfrey plus the addition of Jay Toia in the draft, but Dallas opted to keep him around.

In doing so, Smith was given an expectation from head coach Brian Schottenheimer to step things up in Year 3.

"It doesn't matter that you're a first-round pick," Schottenheimer said, per the Cowboys' website. "We want to see you be more consistent. We know what you're capable of. That's one of the things that's really important to me, is to find time to have conversations because I think it matters."

Ultimately, Smith hasn't had the breakout season Dallas had hoped for, and now his time with the Cowboys could be coming to an end if they find a trade partner for him.