Linebacker Jaylon Smith signed a five-year, $64 million contract extension with the Dallas Cowboys in 2019 that would have kept him with the NFL team until 2024. However, the Cowboys released Smith on Tuesday after failing to find a trade partner for him.
Smith, who made the Pro Bowl in 2019, was no longer a starter for the Cowboys but was still contributing and could make for a quality veteran linebacker for a contender. That’s what the Green Bay Packers were probably thinking and they signed Smith on Wednesday.
The deal won’t be official until tomorrow morning. But Jaylon Smith had indicated Green Bay is where he wants to be. And the #Packers beef up their LB corps with a former Pro Bowler. https://t.co/jRIbIBq4Lc
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 6, 2021
Smith had not started any games for Dallas this season, but he recorded 19 tackles and played in 148 of 264 snaps.
Given what the Packers have riding on this season with Aaron Rodgers, they’re looking to shore up their defense so they can compete to get back to the Super Bowl. Smith gets the best of both worlds as he gets to help the Packers while also still getting paid by the Cowboys, who has a $7.2 million base salary for 2021.
[PFT]
