The Dallas Cowboys have until August 26 at 4:00 PM ET to trim their roster down to 53 players and that will be quite the challenge. For the most part, we know around 45 players who are locks to make the team, but there are at least a dozen players competing for the final few spots on the roster.
One such player is Mazi Smith, the 2023 first-round pick out of Michigan. He played the entire first half on Friday, which isn’t a great sign for his spot on the roster.
So, what happens if the Cowboys decide to move on from Smith? Well, Smith still has $4.5 million guaranteed left on his contract, and Dallas might prefer to trade him and save that cap space. But that contract might be hard to move, and the front office might have to consider eating some of the salary in order to facilitate a trade.
But who might be interested in Smith at this stage of his career? According to Bill Barnwell of ESPN, the Seattle Seahawks make a lot of sense.
Cowboys trading Mazi Smith to the Seahawks would make sense for both teams
"Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald worked with Smith when the two were at Michigan in 2021. The Cowboys might have to kick in some money to get a deal done, but they could feel like they can bury the news about giving up on a first-round pick once they inevitably announce they've come to an agreement with star edge rusher Micah Parsons," Barnwell writes.
As Barnwell notes, Smith would be able to join his former college defensive coordinator and two of his former teammates in Johnathan Hankins and Demarcus Lawrence. He would also be back in a scheme that would allow him to play more like he did at Michigan when he was one of the top players in the country.
Smith started every game last year, but with yet another defensive coordinator change, his development has come to a screeching halt. And now it’s fair to wonder if he’s played his final snap in Dallas.
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If the Cowboys decide to move on from Smith, it won’t be hard to understand why. He’s never improved as a run defender and wasn’t drafted to provide a pass rush. Smith has struggled to hold up against double teams, and that was evident again on Friday night.
He’s also just not a great scheme fit in Matt Eberflus’ defense which requires the defensive tackles to penetrate and get up the field. That is why we could see the Cowboys use more players like Solomon Thomas and Perrion Winfrey instead of Smith.
If the Cowboys decide to move on from Smith, there should be several suitors, including the Seahawks and the Chargers (Jim Harbaugh was Smith’s coach at Michigan). But one thing is clear: Dallas seem to be open to the idea of moving on from Smith despite having one of the worst defensive tackle rooms in the league.
And that’s a shame because Smith was drafted to help solve that issue. The Cowboys don’t have many first-round busts, but this certainly qualifies as one.