The Dallas Cowboys have landed no shortage of great players in the NFL Draft over the years, thanks to Will McClay and his scouting department. Dak Prescott, Dalton Schultz and Tony Pollard are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to high-value assets found in the later rounds of the draft.
Dallas has also hit on a solid portion of their early-round picks over the years, which is a list highlighted by CeeDee Lamb, Micah Parsons, Tyler Smith and Trevon Diggs. They've also taken some chances; however, not all of which worked out.
In the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft, the Cowboys swung on Notre Dame linebacker Jaylon Smith despite knowing he would miss his entire rookie season due to a nasty injury he suffered in his final collegiate game. He made the Pro Bowl in 2019, but this was a brief high point in his career.
Former Cowboys LB Jaylon Smith is once again a cut candidate with the Raiders
Smith's nearly six-year tenure in Dallas was largely successful, even though he missed an entire season and was traded before the 2021 campaign was even over. It was also marked by injuries, of course, which he has not been able to escape from in his brief stints with other NFL teams.
He has bounced around practice squads in recent years and played in just one game since the end of the 2022 NFL season. That game was with the Las Vegas Raiders, where he has returned this offseason. According to Gary Davenport of Bleacher Report, he is already a cut candidate again in Las Vegas.
"The reality is that while Jaylon Smith may once have been a big deal, the 30-year-old never had much of a chance to make the team," Davenport wrote. "It’s an awful story—and an object lesson in why so many collegiate players now skip bowl games. The gruesome knee injury Smith had in his last game at Notre Dame altered the entire trajectory of his career, and while he did get a big second contract from the Dallas Cowboys, two years after signing that deal he was visibly slower and out of Dallas. Smith just isn't an NFL-caliber linebacker anymore. And truthfully, he hasn't been for some time."
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These are harsh words about Dallas' former Pro Bowler, but they certainly resonate with Cowboys fans. For as great as Smith was for a short period of time, he ended his Cowboys career unceremoniously, and he is headed for a similar fate with the Raiders.
With players like Jamal Adams, Devin White, Germaine Pratt and Elandon Roberts already in Las Vegas' linebacker room, it will be tough sledding for Smith to separate himself with just one preseason game left to play.
Smith's story is a brutal reminder of how fragile and fleeting the game of football is, especially at the NFL level. He'll always hold a special spot in the heart of Cowboys fans for all he overcame, but the NFL is a business at the end of the day.