Tyler Smith signs massive contract extension with Cowboys – Patrik Walker, Dallascowboys.com
Cowboys guard gets the big bucks from Dallas.
FRISCO, Texas — Anyone wondering who would be next in line to land a contract extension from the Dallas Cowboys in 2025, Pro Bowl tight end Jake Ferguson and All-Pro cornerback DaRon Bland both being secured on new deals this summer, probably had All-Pro left guard Tyler Smith someone on their radar. If so, nail meet hammer head, because Smith has agreed to terms on, and officially signed, a record-setting four-year contract extension worth up to $96 million
with $81.2 million that secures him through the 2030 season.It’s a negotiation that began early in training camp, and the deal arrives several weeks after the Kansas City Chiefs awarded offensive lineman Trey Smith with a four-year, $94 million extension with $70 million guaranteed, and one year after the Philadelphia Eagles paid Landon Dickerson by way of a four-year extension worth $84 million with $50 million in guaranteed money.
Having exercised the fifth-year option on Smith for 2026, worth a fully-guaranteed $21.27 million, the Cowboys escaped that hefty cap hit and instead set themselves up for cap savings over the next couple seasons — approximately $1.2 million and $16.1 million in 2025 and 2026, respectively. Smith entered the league as the Cowboys’ first-round pick, 24th-overall, out of Tulsa in 2022, and though the selection was met with much chagrin from outside of the building, he has quickly entered the conversation as one of the best guards in all of football.
His rookie season also saw him play offensive tackle due to injury at the position, and he excelled there as well, en route to being named to the PFWA All-Rookie Team, but given how elite he’s been at guard, the Cowboys have routinely refused to flex him back outside over the past two seasons — instead spending a first-round pick to select Tyler Guyton out of Oklahoma in 2024.
Jerry Jones Shopped Micah Parsons to Jets, Eyed Quinnen Williams for Cowboys in Trade – Adam Wells, Bleacher Report
Before sending Parsons to the Green Bay Packers, Dallas was looking to move him to the Big Apple.
Before Micah Parsons was traded to the Green Bay Packers, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones offered him to the New York Jets. Appearing on 880 ESPN New York with Gary Myers, Jones indicated he sought to trade Parsons in a package for Quinnen Williams, but the Jets turned it down because they “didn’t have the resources to entertain conversation.”Jones called it a “prerequisite” for any trade involving Parsons was the Cowboys would receive a “significant, dominant” player to line up on the interior of the defensive line.
Myers received confirmation from Jones that he was seeking a package of Williams and at least one first-round draft pick, potentially two, from the Jets. The deal that Jones laid out during his conversation with Myers is exactly what the Cowboys wound up receiving from the Packers for Parsons. They got Kenny Clark plus two future first-round picks in 2026 and 2027. Even though most analysts would agree there weren’t a lot of ways the Cowboys could have received a fair deal in exchange for Parsons, the deal Jones sought from the Jets actually would have been pretty good.
Williams has made the Pro Bowl in each of the past three seasons, including an All-Pro year in 2022, is only 27 years old and signed through 2027. He has 40 career sacks in 91 games playing primarily as an interior lineman. On top of that, two future first-round picks from the Jets would have tremendous value. Their lowest position in the first round since 2017 was No. 13, which was swapped with the Packers (No. 15 overall) as part of the Aaron Rodgers trade in 2023.
It’s probably for the best that the Jets opted not to take the deal because their most pressing issue is trying to find a long-term solution at quarterback. They can’t really do that if their next first-round pick came in 2028, even though Parsons on that defense with Will McDonald, Quincy Williams, Jermaine Johnson II and Sauce Gardner led by head coach Aaron Glenn would be fun.
Dak Prescott’s Giants history is bad news for Big Blue – Mark Heaney, Inside the Star
Ever since his rookie season, Dak Prescott has been stomping the Giants.
Dak Prescott owns the New York Giants. The Dallas Cowboys haven’t dropped a Prescott-started game to their northern rival since 2016, his rookie year. Tyler Booker, the team’s first-round pick this April, was twelve years old when that game happened. Additionally, those two rookie-season losses came from a combined four points. Since then, Prescott has outscored the Giants 416-208.
So, again, Prescott absolutely owns the Giants.It’s a good time to revisit that, considering his 13-game winning streak will be put to the test tomorrow. It’s a huge game, as Dallas falling to 0-2 would badly injure their long-term chances in 2025. Right now, the Cowboys are a 5.5-point favorite; that’s a favorable spread, but it doesn’t represent the sheer dominance Dallas has had over New York in recent years. With all of this in mind, let’s take a closer look at Prescott’s last three matchups with Big Blue and what it means for tomorrow’s showdown.
Week 4, 2024: Dak Prescott’s High-Completion, 20-15 Win
Before Dak Prescott went down with his season-ending hamstring injury last season, he managed his best performance of his shortened year against the Giants.In Week 4, the All-Pro quarterback completed a stellar 22 of 27 passes; that comes out to an 81.5% completion percentage. He added two passing touchdowns, no interceptions, and 221 yards on top of it. Dak Prescott owns the New York Giants. The Dallas Cowboys haven’t dropped a Prescott-started game to their northern rival since 2016, his rookie year. Tyler Booker, the team’s first-round pick this April, was twelve years old when that game happened.
Additionally, those two rookie-season losses came from a combined four points. Since then, Prescott has outscored the Giants 416-208. So, again, Prescott absolutely owns the Giants. It’s a good time to revisit that, considering his 13-game winning streak will be put to the test tomorrow. It’s a huge game, as Dallas falling to 0-2 would badly injure their long-term chances in 2025. Right now, the Cowboys are a 5.5-point favorite; that’s a favorable spread, but it doesn’t represent the sheer dominance Dallas has had over New York in recent years. With all of this in mind, let’s take a closer look at Prescott’s last three matchups with Big Blue and what it means for tomorrow’s showdown.
Week 4, 2024: Dak Prescott’s High-Completion, 20-15 Win
Before Dak Prescott went down with his season-ending hamstring injury last season, he managed his best performance of his shortened year against the Giants. In Week 4, the All-Pro quarterback completed a stellar 22 of 27 passes; that comes out to an 81.5% completion percentage. He added two passing touchdowns, no interceptions, and 221 yards on top of it.
While he did his thing, it was a break from recent years, as New York kept it awfully close at 20-15. This could be a warning sign when it comes to Sunday’s game. We’ve seen a regression from Dallas recently, as they’ve transitioned from being an NFC favorite to a middle-of-the-pack roster. We’ll see if this game was an outlier or a trend tomorrow.
Cowboys vs Giants referee report: What to expect from officials in home opener – David Howman, Blogging the Boys
How will the officials impact the game versus the Giants.
The Cowboys are preparing for their home opener against the Giants, and have had a few extra days of rest following their competitive loss to the Eagles last Thursday. In a bit of a twist, the Cowboys were the more disciplined team in that one, drawing just four penalties to the Eagles’ nine. Of course, that wasn’t much of a surprise to those who read our referee report last week. And in this week’s report, we’re looking at veteran zebra Bill Vinovich.
The most senior official in football, Vinovich has been calling games for a long time. He started out as a side judge back in 2001 and was promoted to head referee three years later. However, he stepped away after the 2006 season due to a near-fatal heart condition that required emergency surgery at the time. Several years later, he got back into the swing of things, and gradually worked his way back into being a head referee again.Returning to that role for the start of the 2012 season, Vinovich technically isn’t the longest tenured referee these days, but he has been around the officiating game the longest. As such, there’s a ton of data on him as a referee, and Vinovich has earned a reputation as an official who prefers to let teams play with minimal interruption.
Since returning as a head referee, Vinovich’s crew has finished in the top half of the league in penalties called just once. There have been six occasions where his crew has been in the bottom three of the league in penalties called, and has finished dead last three different times, most recently in 2022. Only one crew threw fewer flags than Vinovich’s in Week 1.In short: don’t expect to see many flags thrown Sunday. Well, unless Dexter Lawrence decides to spit on a Cowboys player, or something like that.
Vinovich’s hands-off, let-them-play approach has historically benefitted the home team. Since coming back to the field, home teams are 109-103 when Vinovich is present. However, that record has gotten a lot closer in recent years. As homefield advantage has generally declined since 2017, home teams are just 63-73 in Vinovich-called games.
There’s a theory that officials like Vinovich bode well for the more physical team, rather than the home team, simply because it’s easier for that team to dominate and overpower their opponent when they don’t have to worry about being constantly penalized. That would seem to bode well for the Cowboys, as Brian Schottenheimer has emphasized physicality and trench warfare since taking over as head coach.All in all, Vinovich has called 21 Cowboys games. They are 12-9 in those games, with a 6-3 record at home. Ironically, the winner of those home games has been the more penalized team in all but one contest: 10 years ago, opening up the season at home against the New York Football Giants.
