FRISCO, Texas — Anyone wondering who would be next in line to land a contract extension from the Dallas Cowboys in 2025, Pro Bowl tight end Jake Ferguson and All-Pro cornerback DaRon Bland both being secured on new deals this summer, probably had All-Pro left guard Tyler Smith someone on their radar.
If so, nail meet hammer head, because Smith has agreed to terms on, and officially signed, a record-setting four-year contract extension worth up to $96 million with $81.2 million that secures him through the 2030 season.
It's a negotiation that began early in training camp, and the deal arrives several weeks after the Kansas City Chiefs awarded offensive lineman Trey Smith with a four-year, $94 million extension with $70 million guaranteed, and one year after the Philadelphia Eagles paid Landon Dickerson by way of a four-year extension worth $84 million with $50 million in guaranteed money.
Having exercised the fifth-year option on Smith for 2026, worth a fully-guaranteed $21.27 million, the Cowboys escaped that hefty cap hit and instead set themselves up for cap savings over the next couple seasons — approximately $1.2 million and $16.1 million in 2025 and 2026, respectively.
Smith entered the league as the Cowboys' first-round pick, 24th-overall, out of Tulsa in 2022, and though the selection was met with much chagrin from outside of the building, he has quickly entered the conversation as one of the best guards in all of football.
His rookie season also saw him play offensive tackle due to injury at the position, and he excelled there as well, en route to being named to the PFWA All-Rookie Team, but given how elite he's been at guard, the Cowboys have routinely refused to flex him back outside over the past two seasons — instead spending a first-round pick to select Tyler Guyton out of Oklahoma in 2024.
With so much change on the offensive line in Dallas, including the departure and ultimately the retirement of Tyron Smith, the latter being synchronized with the retirement of fellow perennial All-Pro lineman Zack Martin, Smith enters the 2025 season as one of only two true veterans getting the nod as starter in front of former NFL MVP runner-up Dak Prescott.
In 2024, Smith allowed just 10 pressures (3.5% pressure rate), continuing his dominance, and seeing as that was good enough for second-lowest among left guards over the past seven seasons, it's safe to say the two-time Pro Bowler is worth every penny.
There will be no free agency for Smith in 2026, or anytime soon, as the heir apparent to the offensive line throne in Dallas accepts his crown.
