Mike McCarthy comments on veteran tackle Tyron Smith's future ahead of free agency

The Dallas Cowboys have more than a dozen players to consider new contracts for after the end of the 2023 season but none with more veteran status than left tackle Tyron Smith. The Cowboys coaches kept Smith on a “Hall-of-Fame” practice schedule for the majority of the season, meaning he played very little during the week, and that worked well, even if he did miss four games throughout the year.

The former first-round draft pick was reliable when he started as evidenced by his first All-Pro selection since the 2016 season. His second-team selection gives him five All-Pro honors in his 13-year career. Though he’s about to enter his mid-30s and his contract is coming up, Smith has still shown that he’s “got it,” which means the Cowboys have a tough decision to make this offseason.

Head coach Mike McCarthy called Smith’s play the season his best since he took over the team in 2020.

“Biggest thing for Tyron, we talked about the path of this season, this is clearly his best season that I’ve experienced with him,” McCarthy said Thursday. “He felt really good about that. Just the fact that he’s not going into the offseason with surgeries is a big plus. We’ll continue talking about it moving forward.”

Smith last signed a major deal for eight years, $97.6 million in 2014. He’s helped Dallas clear cap space every year, including last offseason when he signed a contract restructure for one-year, $6 million. He ended up making a couple extra million via playing time incentives, but missed out on a million more since Dallas lost in the first round of the playoffs.

Cowboys carry more than a dozen future free agents

As for the remainder of the Cowboys players who are just a couple of months out from the end of their contracts, McCarthy told reporters it’s too early to comment.

“Too early,” McCarthy said. “(Jerry Jones and I) touched on some of those things but it’s really too early to get into that.”

After player meetings on Monday, the team announced the signing of eight players to Reserve/Future contracts, with three more on Wednesday. Those signees are among the first to know what their situation will be this offseason.

Dallas has a lengthy list of upcoming free agents to consider re-signing and multiple stars who are looking for contract extensions. The list of the Cowboys’ top upcoming free agents includes Tony Pollard, Stephon Gilmore, Tyler Biadasz, Dorance Armstrong Jr., Jayron Kearse, Jourdan Lewis, Johnathan Hankins, Neville Gallimore, Dante Fowler Jr., Chuma Edoga, Noah Igbinoghene and Rico Dowdle.