Weeks after trading a big piece of their defense, the Cowboys are keeping one of their other players in the trenches for the long haul.
Offensive lineman Tyler Smith inked a four-year, $96 million extension with Dallas to become the highest-paid guard in NFL history, according to multiple reports.
Trey Smith of the Chiefs had previously signed the largest guard contract ($94 million) earlier this summer.
NFL Network reported that the new deal for Smith, 24, comes with $81.2 million in guaranteed money.
Smith was a first-round pick out of Tulsa in the 2021 NFL Draft and has since blossomed into a two-time Pro Bowler (2023, 2024) to shore up the Cowboys’ offensive line.
Last season, he earned a 76 pass blocking grade on Pro Football Focus, which ranked him as the 22nd-best guard out of 136 players at the position.
Since trading All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons to the Packers days before Week 1, the Cowboys have been active in keeping other pieces of their core.
Dallas and cornerback DaRon Bland agreed to a four-year, $92 million contract extension to keep a key piece of their pass defense. Days later, the Cowboys handed fullback Hunter Luepke a two-year extension that will allow him to make up to $7.5 million.
On Friday, owner Jerry Jones joined 105.3 The Fan to further explain his rationale for trading Parsons to two first-round picks and defensive tackle Kenny Clark.
“I see an allocation. I see more of an allocation here,” Jones said. “As opposed to Herschel Walker, which was to basically get draft picks and was basically a recognition that we would compete on another day, this was not that. This was a very conscious trade to get three, four, five, six players for one.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
