Cowboys free agent: Tackle Tyron Smith to sign 1-year deal worth up to $20M with Jets

Tyron Smith is officially leaving the Dallas Cowboys.

It is the end of an era for the Dallas Cowboys. After reports surfaced at the NFL Combine that Tyron Smith was “unlikely” to return the team in 2024 that, has become happened. He is headed for the New York Jets on a 1-year deal that could be worth up to $20M.

All told Smith played 13 seasons for the Cowboys and did so at an incredibly high level. He was a dream of a draft pick way back in 2011 not only in that he anchored the left tackle for a decade and change, but that his contract became a seemingly never-ending fountain of salary cap space as the team restructured him offseason after offseason.

It would stand to reason that at some point in time Smith will have his name hanging in the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor along with a bronze bust in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Unfortunately for Smith, the Cowboys were never able to achieve ultimate team success with him as he was a part of the teams that never reached even the NFC Championship Game. This situation feels very similar to that of DeMarcus Ware when the Cowboys moved on from him a decade (how has it been that long?) ago now. Perhaps Smith will follow a similar path and win a Super Bowl somewhere else.

Update: 9:30pm ET

It is possible that the Cowboys net a compensatory pick for Tyron Smith next season, but there is an important piece of information to know. It is capped with a ceiling of the fifth round because of his tenure in the league.

Just wonderful.