Injuries in their final seasons of college football cause many teams to back away from star linebackers Jaylon Smith and Myles Jack. However, it didn’t take very long for talent to outweigh injury concerns on day two of the NFL Draft.
The Dallas Cowboys made a big move for Jaylon Smith, selecting him with the No. 4 pick of the second round. It was an interesting pick for a number of reasons, but most interesting is that Smith, along with Jack, had injury insurance policies taken out while still in college.
It was reported that Smith’s was as high as $5 million, but most of that money came should he slide out of the second round. Instead, he’ll get only a reported $900,000 of that insurance policy thanks to the selection by the Cowboys.
On his $5 million insurance policy, Cowboys LB Jaylon Smith now will collect an estimated $900K tax free payment, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 29, 2016
For the Cowboys’ part, it is a move that they should be intimately familiar with thanks to their team doctor performing the surgery on Smith. Clearly the team believes there is more upside than risk, even though Smith is likely to sit out this year while rehabbing an ugly injury that has also seen nerve damage done.
As for Jack, it appears he isn’t as lucky on his insurance policy though. That’s because he needed to fall below the 45th pick to collect on his policy, according to a CBS Sports report. Instead, he won’t be collecting anything on his insurance policy.
Jack, who many believed could be a first-round pick despite the knee injury, threw flames on the fire that he may need a second surgery to try and get some things cleaned up in that knee, per CBS Sports.
“(The degenerative problems are) there, but it’s nothing extreme. Down the line, possibly I could have microfracture surgery — potentially. Who knows what will happen? Nobody knows how long anybody is going to play in this league. To play three years in this league would be above average.”
While these two players are heading for NFL contracts, it is also worth noting that having the right insurance policy against injury is nearly as important. Structuring that deal is nearly as important as the one they’ll sign as rookies, especially should a player want to return to school for that final year or two.
Both will also face big time uphill battles to be the athletic monsters they were on the field at the collegiate level.
