The Green Bay Packers have agreed to terms with former Dallas Cowboys linebacker Jaylon Smith.
The Cowboys released Smith on October 5th. This move surprised many around the NFL because of his potential. Many analysts across social media immediately blamed declining performance as the reason. Cowboys writer Clarence Hill Jr who has been covering the team since 1997, gave some insight as to what happened.
The Cowboys asked Jaylon Smith to remove his injury guarantee for 2022. He declined. He would still be with Cowboys if he gave up the guarantee. But he would have been cut in offseason. Now he is a Packer, playing for contender with more playing time. The business of football
Clarence Hill Jr on Twitter
The Packers acted swiftly and emerged as a landing spot shortly after the news. Several sources instantly reported details about Smith likely signing with the Packers.
The Packers expect to place edge rusher Chauncey Rivers, on IR. He suffered a non-contact knee injury during practice yesterday. This makes room for Jaylon Smith on the active roster right away.
Green Bay Packers linebacker room
The move gives the Packers a deeper linebacker room. It consists of Preston Smith, Krys Barnes, De’Vondre Campbell, Jonathan Garvin, Rashan Gary, Oren Burks, Ty Summers, LaDarius Hamilton, and Isaiah McDuffie. They use many linebackers running a 3-4 defense which gives Smith a lot of opportunities to insert himself into their rotation.
Due to the speculation, Packers star quarterback Aaron Rodgers offered some comments about Jaylon Smith after practice yesterday.
I like him as a person, and he’s a super
reported by Packers beat writer Matt Schneidman
friendly, happy guy, even on the field. He’s a fierce competitor, but he always has a smile on his face. So I appreciate that about him, and it was just more of a respectful competitor-to competitor conversation after
the game (Packers at Cowboys in 2019). I
haven’t heard if anything’s been done yet, but in general, I think anytime you add a veteran player to a team, there’s the possibility of a guy getting an opportunity who’s played football before at a high level, and sometimes it just takes an environment
switch for some of those guys to play their best football.
The Packers are building on a season where Aaron Rodgers won the MVP and they fell just short of the Super Bowl.
Jaylon Smith jersey swap
Lastly, here is a jersey swap edit by graphic designer Joe McMAnus of Jaylon Smith in a Packers uniform as a result of the signing.
