With Tyron Smith era over, is left tackle the Dallas Cowboys biggest draft need?
After 13 seasons as the team’s blindside protector at left tackle, the Tyron Smith era is over with the Dallas Cowboys.
Sources confirm that Smith and the Cowboys are not on the same page in terms of his value in free agency and the and longest tenured member of the team will hit the market for the first time.
Smith, picked in the first round of the 2011 NFL Draft, is a member the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s All-Decade team for the 2010s after accumulating eight Pro Bowl selections — including seven straight from 2013-2019 — and twice being named first-team All-Pro.
He is likely a future Hall of Famer, but questions about his future with the Cowboys have been at the forefront of conversations for the last few years because of Smith’s injury history.
He has missed at least three games in every season since 2015, including 14, 6, 13 and 4 in each of the last four seasons.
He had a bounce-back campaign in 2022, playing 13 games, giving up only one sack and earning second-team All-Pro honor.
But was that outlier or could the Cowboys trust that to continue in 2024?
The two sides differed on the value of that uncertainty.
Outside figuring on the contract status of quarterback Dak Prescott, what the team plans to do at left tackle has become the biggest decision of the offseason.
The Cowboys drafted Tyler Smith in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft with the purpose of him being Tyron Smith’s heir apparent left tackle.
The Cowboys believe Tyler Smith could move to left tackle and play at a high level but he has shown elite potential at left guard, where he is started the past two seasons.
Tyler Smith made the Pro Bowl and second-time All-Pro in 2023 and has evoked comparisons to Hall of Famer Larry Allen, who began his career at left tackle before cementing his legacy as one of the best guards in league history.
“That remains to be seen,” vice president Stephen Jones said of Tyler Smith. “It’s starting to feel like Larry Allen all over again. The great thing about Tyler is his versatility. He could be a great left tackle, too. Larry Allen played one or two years at left tackle, and I think he made All-Pro those years, too. Tyler’s got that in him.”
“At the end of the day, when we’re through massaging it, we’ll have a good spot for him,” Jones said. “The great news is we have Tyler Smith. His versatility certainly brings options to the table as we look at this team moving forward.”
Those options certainly include either moving Tyler Smith to tackle or leaving him at guard.
Finding an offensive lineman is the offseason biggest need and will be a focal point for the Cowboys with the 24th pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Eight offensive tackles could potentially go in the first round.
And the Cowboys are all ready doing their home work at the NFL Scouting Combine, holding formal meetings with Georgia’s Amarius Mims, Alabama’s JC Latham, Arizona’s Jordan Morgan, Illinois’ Isaiah Adams, Oklahoma’s Tyler Guyton, Texas’ Christian Jones, Washington’s Troy Fautanu and Oregon State’s Taliese Fuaga.
