Easily the top Cowboys free agent still on the market, Defensive End Aldon Smith is scheduled to visit with the Seattle Seahawks today. While Dallas’ actual interest in re-signing Aldon is still unknown, they may not have the option depending on how this visit goes.
After a four-year absence from football to work on personal issues, Smith returned to the NFL in 2020 on a one-year contract with the Cowboys. After a hot start in September with four sacks in just three games, Aldon’s production went off a cliff with just one more sack the rest of the season.
Surprise, surprise; his best game was a three-sack performance against the Seahawks.
Cowboys had chance to acquire a draft pick from interested Seahawks last October if they traded DE Aldon Smith. Depending on contract value and timing, Dallas can be awarded a 2022 compensatory draft pick if Smith signs there. https://t.co/nvvMzT2u3S
— Michael Gehlken (@GehlkenNFL) April 14, 2021
Dallas declined an opportunity to trade Smith to Seattle last October. But this is a hindsight complaint; the Cowboys didn’t really know yet what Randy Gregory would look like upon return and were still competing for a playoff spot in the putrid NFC East.
Now there’s a chance that Dallas could lose Aldon to the Seahawks without compensation. But based on conflicting reports from March, who knows if they’ll really see it as a loss?
A few weeks ago, we had a report that the Cowboys had moved on from Smith. But then within a couple days, Head Coach Mike McCarthy refuted that and said Aldon was still on his radar.
If Smith does wind up with Seattle, Dallas will be hoping the deal happens sometime before May 3rd. Free agent signings that occur before May 3rd count towards the compensatory pick formula for 2022. If Aldon signs somewhere after that date, the Cowboys won’t stand to get anything back from it.
Aldon Smith is the last of Dallas’ remaining free agents from 2020 who could fetch them a meaningful compensatory draft pick in 2022. But even if that happens, would the Cowboys be better off with Smith as part of their pass-rushing rotation this season?
We’ll see if his visit with the Seahawks leaves that option on the table.
