Long-term left tackle contracts come with mixed results in recent years
By Matt Conner
Tyron Smith, Dallas Cowboys
This contract is a bit of an outlier given its length and the early stage at which the Cowboys decided to lock up Tyron Smith, but it’s worth a closer look at what it likely symbolizes for the trajectory of most contracts.
Smith was absurdly young at 21 when he first took over at right tackle for the Cowboys back in 2011, and he was only 22 when he suited up on the left side for good. The Cowboys knew they had a bright young talent who could become a true franchise icon if he simply stayed the course, and Jerry Jones rewarded him with an eight-year deal worth up to $110 million—a deal that could keep him in Dallas for the remainder of his career.
Not only did Smith go to the Pro Bowl during the very year he signed the deal in 2014, but he also went to the next five Pro Bowls just to further showcase his dominance. Then in 2020, Smith decided to deal with a neck injury and missed nearly the entire season in a COVID-affected year. In 2021, Smith returned to the Pro Bowl, but it felt like more of a popularity push than anything else given that he missed six games due to injury.
The thing about long-term deals, especially those that stretch eight seasons like this one, is that it’s just so hard for a player to remain effective and durable and the tail end of Tyron Smith’s contract is showing just that. Can the Cowboys count on him going forward? They got plenty of value out of him already and he’ll be enshrined in the team’s Hall of Fame one day but for now, they’ve got an expensive player with question marks at a key position.