Finally some GOOD news!!! #NoDrama for your Momma!!!! #DC4L SCOOP: NFL sources tell me #JaylonSmith new #Cowboys contract is ‘long-term’ deal that will make him top-5-paid MLB. Possibly sandwiched by Carolina’s Kuechly ($12.4M APY) & NYG’s Eric Ogletree ($10.5M).
The Dallas Cowboys locked down a core young player, but not one of their triplets on offense.
The Cowboys reached agreement on a long-term extension with linebacker Jaylon Smith, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport and NFL Network's Mike Garafolo reported Tuesday.
Smith was set to be a restricted free agent after the season. The linebacker missed his entire rookie season due to a devastating knee injury suffered in his college bowl game while at Notre Dame.
Despite the injury, the Cowboys took a calculated risk selecting the playmaking linebacker in the second round of the 2016 draft, betting the would-be first-rounder would pay off down the line.
The risk paid off in spades for the Cowboys, and now cash for the linebacker.
Fully healthy, Smith proved to be one of the best sideline-to-sideline linebacking playmakers in the league last season, starting 16 games and compiling 121 tackles, four sacks, four passes defended and two forced fumbles. A stout run defender with speed to keep up with tight ends and running backs in space, Smith is the ideal linebacker in the modern NFL.
Paired with Leighton Vander Esch, Smith gives the Cowboys two of the best young all-around linebackers in the NFL and the core to a rising defense.
Smith was one of several young Cowboys in search of a contract extension ahead of the season. Dallas still has Ezekiel Elliott (holding out with two years left on his deal), Dak Prescott, Amari Cooper and Byron Jones in need of new deals.
Last week, owner Jerry Jones indicated the Cowboys' first deal done might not be one many expected.
"Would it be better if we can get one of the players done (before the season) than to not have any done of the ones you're talking about? The answer is yes," Jones said last Tuesday. "What may surprise you is we may come up with one that you haven't been asking about."
The surprise was Jaylon Smith, but it is well worth it.
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