The Cowboys shockingly pulled Aldon Smith out of football purgatory a couple weeks ago, and they apparently weren’t the only team in on the former All-Pro. The Broncos pursued Smith and the two sides had mutual interest for a while, sources told Mike Klis of Denver 9 News.
Klis points out that Broncos head coach Vic Fangio was Smith’s defensive coordinator during his best seasons in San Francisco, which explains the connection. Ultimately, financials led Smith to go with Dallas. Klis reports that the Broncos only made a “vet-minimum/incentive-laden offer” to Smith, while the Cowboys gave him a one-year contract with a base value of $2MM and an additional $2MM available in sack incentives.
If Smith had been able to get anywhere close to his old heights, he would’ve formed a scary pass-rushing trio in Denver alongside fellow former first-round picks Von Miller and Bradley Chubb. The seventh overall pick of the 2011 draft, Smith was one of the best defensive players in the league before a series of arrests and substance abuse issues derailed his career. He led the league in sacks in 2012 with 19.5.
He hasn’t played in a game since the 2015 season, so it’ll be very interesting to see what the 30-year-old looks like when he steps on the field. The Broncos lost Derek Wolfe, who had seven sacks last year, in free agency, so Smith would’ve been a nice high-upside addition to bolster the defensive front.
Not something you want to admit
Losing a bidding war for a guy out of the league 3 years, great for the morale of the front office
No morale issue. If he wants to prove himself on league minimum great but if not move on it’s no problem
and id hardly imagine it was anything of a bidding war. Broncos likely just made a stab and hoped to see it work out.
This guy hasn’t been cleared to play, so Denver’s vet minimum was a wise offer, besides, he hasn’t played since 2015. Lots of if’s here for a 4 million contract. Smart move for Denver!
He will only get $4 million if he hits incentives that would make his value more than $4 million.
It’s unfortunate that the Broncos couldn’t snag Aldon because Vic Fangio is probably the one guy that could help him the most in making a successful comeback.
No, that would be Jim Tomsula who was his D-line coach while in San Fransisco and his coach again in Dallas.