The Dallas Cowboys appear to be making good on their word. In the aftermath of the Micah Parsons trade to the Green Bay Packers, the Cowboys made it a point to say that they were going to utilize the savings on him (as in savings from the deal they did not give him which led to the trade) on other players. Given how the Cowboys have delayed deals of this variety in recent memory there were plenty of fans who rolled their eyes.
This past Sunday the Cowboys gave an extension to cornerback DaRon Bland, which suggested that maybe they have turned a new leaf (one of those things Jerry Jones infamously said he was waiting to see fall). Given that Bland is in his first window of eligibility for an extension (just barely as the season is about to begin, but still counts) this was a bit shocking.
It appears that the Cowboys may have liked the way that felt. According to Clarence Hill of DLLS the Cowboys are actively negotiating with offensive lineman Tyler Smith.
As Hill notes, an extension can be done with Tyler Smith at any time for the Cowboys, but there would definitely be some statement to it being taken care of before kickoff. That would mark two big-time extensions for Dallas in the first week following the Parsons’ deal.
What’s more is that this would really suggest Dallas is taking things a bit differently. Smith, like Bland, is in his first window of extension eligibility. Unlike Bland though, Smith was a first-round pick and it has been a while since the Cowboys got to one of those with an extension at the earliest point of negotiation possible.
Smith was taken in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft. At the moment, prior to any would-be Smith extension, the last first-round pick who the Cowboys extended at their earliest point of eligibility was Ezekiel Elliott who was drafted six years before Tyler in 2016. While that is technically true, Elliott infamously had to hold out to force that deal. If we are talking about the last first-round pick that Dallas gave an extension to in the player’s first year of eligibility without any forcing from the player then the answer is Travis Frederick, who was selected in 2013. That deal was done while the team was at training camp in 2016, one of those that led people to believe Oxnard is where the Cowboys like to get long-term deals done.
A Tyler Smith extension would be a serious pledge that things might actually be different in the near future.
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