Are The Cowboys Messing Up By Letting Free Agent Tyron Smith Walk?

He appears to be headed right out the door.

During this week's episode of their podcast Bleav In Dallas Cowboys, former Cowboys wide receiver Jesse Holley and D Magazine writer Jeff Cavanaugh unpacked eight-time Pro Bowler and a five-time All-Pro left tackle Tyron Smith's reported decision to depart Dallas in free agency this offseason.

The vet has been a reliable blindside protector since the 2011 season, when the Cowboys drafted him with the ninth pick out of USC.

"At the moment, it sounds like Tyron Smith is going to play somewhere else," Cavanaugh began. "Apparently they met with his agent at the combine, and they ain't close. Which means -- I know how the Cowboys work -- the Cowboys were like, 'Yeah we really like you, Tyron. If you would like to play for the league minimum we'd love to have you around, and you owe us that.' And he was like, 'People don't owe you stuff, stop saying that crap. I already played for a decade on a cheap deal, I would like somewhere near my market value.' And they're like, 'We don't know what market value is and we don't believe in it. So you go have a good time, and we're going to find somebody to play for peanuts, and hope to god that they're capable of playing football.' I want Tyron back, because... the whole thing I'm trying to do is getting ready to draft football players, and before I'm ready to draft football players, I have to have a team that can play on Sunday, and my team can't play on Sunday right now."

"Tyron's still really good at football," Cavanaugh continued. "Odds are, yes, he would miss three to eight games, who knows, but he's still really good at football. And I kind of thought there would be a hometown discount. It just felt that way, where he'd be like, 'I'll give you a little break, because yeah I do like it here and I've been here forever.' I want Tyron back on this team, because this offensive line, at the moment, is in trouble."

Ultimately, Smith doesn't owe the Cowboys anything. Smith, 33, is a member of the NFL 2010s All-Decade Team. Injury issues have limited him to just half of all possible regular season contests across the last two seasons. If he can still make good money, he deserves to go out and get his.

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