New Orleans Saints sign former Cowboys linebacker Jaylon Smith

The New Orleans Saints have signed former Cowboys linebacker Jaylon Smith, the team announced on Friday.

Smith, who played five seasons with Dallas before joining the New York Giants for 2022, previously worked out for the Raiders but ultimately signed with New Orleans. With the Saints’ 2023 schedule, the former Giants defender has a chance to face his former team in mid-December.

Smith spent the 2022 season with the New York Giants playing on a one-year deal for $1 million. His contract ran out in March and he’s been on the free-agent market ever since. The Cowboys released him in October of the 2021 season. The Packers picked him up but he never appeared in a game for them, then New York signed him following the end of the year.

In 13 games for the Giants, Smith had 88 tackles with one sack and 3.5 tackles for loss. His best years in the league, however, came with Dallas from 2018-2020. He signed a six-year extension with the Cowboys worth a whopping $68.4 million but they ended up cutting him just a year and a half into that new deal.

The Dallas Cowboys drafted Smith out of Notre Dame with the No. 3 pick in the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft.

Saints back off of former Cowboys LB Anthony Barr

It initially appeared that the Saints were on their way to signing another former Cowboys linebacker. Free agent Anthony Barr supposedly had a deal coming his way from the Saints, according to Dianna Russini. However, it appears the deal, if there ever was one, fell through. Russini reported Tuesday that Barr and running back Kareem Hunt were inking with New Orleans.

Hunt ended up also leaving the workout with the Saints without a deal before doing the same with the Colts.

Barr’s agent, Ryan Williams, posted on X: “When a coach (who isn’t the head coach) gives a reporter info before anything is even remotely close to being done… Sincerely, Anthony Barr’s Agent”

Despite a hamstring injury that briefly sidelined him, Barr played 16 games for the Cowboys last season. The former Minnesota Vikings first-round draft pick posted 58 tackles during the regular season and an additional nine in the two postseason games. He also added a sack and two fumble recoveries, along with 4.5 tackles for loss.

The 2014 draft pick out of UCLA played eight seasons with the Vikings, which came to a close last offseason. He had restructured his 2021 deal to clear up $2.8 million in cap space but the Vikings ultimately let him go into free agency for 2022. In 2019, he signed the biggest deal of his career for five years, $67.5 million.

With Minnesota, Barr started all 98 games that he played in. He made four straight Pro Bowls from 2015-18 and racked up 39 tackles for loss, 17.5 sacks, eight forced fumbles, five interceptions, and 31 pass breakups during his time in the Purple and Gold.