While left guard Tyler Smith and pass rusher Sam Williams were quickly identified as the next priorities following the announcement of cornerback DaRon Bland‘s extension, it seemed like those deals might be destined for dates further off as the regular season fast approached. Smith had remarked that “everything will happen in due time,” and due time may be sooner than expected.

According to Clarence Hill Jr. of All City DLLS, Dallas is still working towards a long-term deal for Smith, and that deal could reportedly be a record-setting one. After watching wide receiver CeeDee Lamb and quarterback Dak Prescott sign extensions more expensive than they needed to be as the Cowboys reacted to a market set by deals done earlier in the offseason last year, and after watching Micah Parsons depart in part due to the team’s lack of urgency in working towards legitimate negotiations, it would be extremely satisfying to watch Dallas set the market before it has a chance to inflate.

The Cowboys exercised Smith’s fifth-year option before the draft, ensuring that he’d be under contract for at least the next two seasons, but considering how the option groups interior linemen and tackles in the formula determining the fifth-year salary, it’s unlikely that Dallas will allow Smith to play out his fifth season under the option. More likely, the option was picked up as a sign of dedication to getting an extension worked out sooner rather than later.

To clarify about Smith’s expected deal being potentially record-setting, it would likely only set a record among interior offensive linemen. Left tackles tend to pace the market, and Chargers tackle Rashawn Slater leads the NFL currently with an average annual value of $28.5MM. The highest-paid right tackle isn’t far behind, though, as Detroit’s Penei Sewell slots in at $28MM per year. The highest-paid guard, though, doesn’t show up until after eight tackles have been listed, with Chiefs guard Trey Smith making $23.5MM per year on average.

Now, there’s a couple reasons why a potential deal may set a new mark among guards. First off, in only three years of play, Smith already has three accolades to his name as a two-time Pro Bowler and a second-team All-Pro, all earned during the two seasons in which he started at guard. Another reason is the fact that he has a season in which he didn’t start at guard; as a rookie expecting to play guard, Smith stepped in for an injured Tyron Smith to start every game of the season but one at left tackle.

Smith can lean on analytics, as well, to support his case. As a rookie unexpectedly starting as Prescott’s blindside blocker, Pro Football Focus (subscription required) graded Smith as the league’s 25th-best tackle out of 81 players graded at the position. When he bumped back in to guard in his sophomore campaign, PFF slotted him in at 11th of 79. He followed that up last year with a ranking of 15th out of 77 guards. Despite the varying relative position rankings, Smith’s overall grades have been consistently strong and have improved year after year.

Not only is Smith among the cream of the crop at his normal position, but the 24-year-old has also proven he can play at a high level as a tackle if need be. Smith is young and talented and likely has room to grow yet. In a league that has seen its strongest teams win big by winning in the trenches, Dallas would do well to lock Smith down before he shows just how big of a contract he could get on the open market or before some other guards push the market ceiling up higher than it is now.

Tyler Smith is one of several extension-eligible players on the Cowboys’ radar for a new deal. The Pro Bowler will have new representation when his second NFL contract is signed, though.

Smith is now a client of Athletes First, per an agency announcement. Joe Panos and Todd France now represent the 24-year-old, who as expected had his fifth-year option picked up this spring. That means Smith is on the books through 2026, giving team and player plenty of time to negotiate a long-term pact.

For now, Micah Parsons represents priority No. 1 for Dallas since he is entering his option season. Making the two-time All-Pro the league’s highest-paid defender may be necessary to finalize an agreement on that front, but in any case Smith is a logical target for a lucrative pact of his own. The Tulsa product handled blindside duties as a rookie out of necessity, but since then he has primarily been used as planned at guard. Smith has missed three total games during that span, but he has collected a Pro Bowl nod each time.

Having posted top-15 PFF grades amongst guards in 2023 and ’24, Smith’s performance and age could set him up for a notable payday. As things stand, he is set to earn $21.27MM in 2026. That figure outpaces the AAV of Landon Dickerson‘s Eagles pact, the most lucrative multi-year deal in the league for guards (Trey Smith is currently scheduled to earn more on his Chiefs franchise tag this year, but an extension would change that). Having Smith in place at a $21.27MM cap charge would be challenging for Dallas, of course, creating added incentive for a long-term accord.

Dallas has invested considerable draft capital up front in recent years. The Cowboys used their top choice in 2024 on left tackle Tyler Guyton, and they went with guard Tyler Booker at No. 12 last month. Those two are in place to handle starting roles for years to come if things go according to plan, and Smith will join them as a key figure up front. Strong O-line play will be critical if Dallas is to bounce back from an underwhelming 2024 showing this year.

In addition to Smith, Athletes First represents Parsons along with quarterback Dak Prescott and recent trade acquisition George Pickens. Of that group, only Prescott’s future beyond 2026 is assured, so negotiations with those clients will be interesting to monitor over the coming weeks and months.

The Cowboys will soon need to make a decision on Tyler Smith‘s fifth-year option. The team’s top offensive lineman can be counted on to remain in Dallas for at least two more years, though.

Smith’s 2026 option is expected to be picked up, Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News reports. The 24th overall pick in 2022 has one Pro Bowl nod on his resume. As a result, Smith will be in line to collect $21.27MM guaranteed for the ’26 campain in the likely event his option is exercised.

Of course, an extension could very well be in store as well. Smith is among the players known to be on the Cowboys’ radar for a long-term arrangement. The 24-year-old was drafted with the intention of starting his career along the interior, but an injury to Tyron Smith changed those plans. Tyler Smith spent much of his rookie campaign on the blindside and flashed the potential to operate as a long-term answer at left tackle.

The team’s preference is to keep the Tulsa product at guard, though, something which was the case in 2023. Last spring, Dallas selected Tyler Guyton in the first round of the draft and gave him a large workload at the left tackle spot. Smith primarily played at left guard, and with Guyton in place for the foreseeable future that setup can be expected to continue moving forward.

Offensive linemen are grouped together for the purposes of franchise tags, something which could lead to complications if team and player reached that point after the 2026 campaign. An extension could be in place well before that point, especially if Smith is seen as one of Dallas’ top priorities for a new deal. Micah Parsons is atop that list, and the process of working out his extension (as was the case last year with Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb) is widely seen as taking much longer than needed.

Considering the Cowboys’ track record on that front, it would come as little surprise if talks on a long-term agreement took place over an extended period. The top of the guard market now has four players attached to multi-year deals averaging $20MM or more per year, while Trey Smith is set to earn over $23MM on the franchise tag (or a similar amount if a Chiefs extension agreement can be worked out). A top-15 guard in terms of PFF grades each of the past two years, Tyler Smith could find himself among the top earners at his position by 2026 or sooner depending on how contract talks progress.

When the Cowboys saw long-time starting left tackle Tyron Smith sign with the Jets in free agency, we noted that third-year offensive lineman Tyler Smith was the easy answer to replace him as the starter at the position in 2024. It didn’t take long for Dallas to follow that same logic, with the team now toying with the idea of where the remaining Smith will line up next season, per David Moore of The Dallas Morning News.

Tyron Smith was allowed to walk as Cowboys owner/president/general manager Jerry Jones explained that the team couldn’t afford to keep him and risk paying on some of the incentives that the Jets had included in their contract for him, according to Clarence Hill Jr. of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. He also noted the possibility of kicking Tyler back out to tackle as Dallas prepares for the draft.

Tyler was drafted in the first round out of Tulsa two years ago with the intention that he would eventually replace Tyron. As injuries kept Tyron out for most of the 2022 season, Tyler heeded his calling much earlier than expected and started every game of his rookie season at left tackle in place of Tyron. Tyler excelled in the role, grading out as the 25th-best offensive tackle in the NFL, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), an impressive result for a rookie.

With Tyron back and healthy in 2023, Tyler shifted inside to left guard, where he would earn both Pro Bowl and second-team All-Pro honors and grade out as the league’s 11th-best guard, per PFF. So, the team will have to broach the question of whether Smith earned those honors because he’s simply another year more experienced or if he’s just better at guard than he is at tackle.

If the team shifts him back out to tackle, they will then be tasked with replacing Smith at left guard and replacing Tyler Biadasz, who signed with the rival Commanders, at center. Some believe that Smith could remain at left guard, and the team could use their No. 24 overall draft pick to select Tyron’s replacement at tackle. The team expects such tackle prospects as Oklahoma’s Tyler Guyton, Georgia’s Amarius Mims, and Washington’s Troy Fautanu to all be available by the time they’re on the clock.

It truly seems like Tyler Smith could excel at either position, and if that’s true, it may make more sense to keep him at guard, though that seems counterintuitive. Although left tackle is considered the more valuable position, the Cowboys seem to have a better chance at finding a strong starter at tackle in the draft than at guard. Solidifying Smith at guard while hitting a homerun in the draft would fill out four of the five positions on the line, leaving Dallas with one more piece to address.