The Dallas Cowboys have to contend with Tyron Smith’s injury this season. Though he’s struggled with his health in the past, it appears that head coach Mike McCarthy will be without his prized left tackle for much of the year. This means trying to fill the void will be of the utmost importance. Moving quickly to secure Jason Peters should be the priority.
Replacing someone of Smith’s caliber is never an easy task, especially at this juncture. However, the saving grace for the Cowboys is that players are available in the aftermath of NFL cuts this week. The fact is that Dallas already had a thin offensive line prior to Smith’s injury. The devastating news surrounding his injury obviously puts Jerry Jones and Co. into a bind having to secure a reliable veteran. Regrettably for Jones, there wasn’t much of a replacement in-house.
Speaking of in-house replacements, the Cowboys’ first-round choice this year was Tyler Smith. Despite being a draft pick that many fans panned, Smith has tons of potential and upside. However, he’s been mostly a left guard for the team so far. A notoriously penalized player at Tulsa, you don’t want someone this green protecting Dak Prescott. That only strengthens the need for Peters.
The best ability is reliability, which Jason Peters has plenty of luckily for the Cowboys
The question is, can the Cowboys convince him to jump ship and return to his old division? He was, at one point, the Philadelphia Eagles’ franchise left tackle. Despite being 40 years old, Peters started 15 regular season games last year for the Bears, proving he’s still reliable, quite the opposite of Smith in all fairness.
Considering the conundrum that Jones and the Cowboys find themselves in right now, Peters isn’t a bad alternative by any stretch. In fact, there are a few reasons why Dallas needs to secure his services immediately.
Jason Peters brings an impressive résumé for the Cowboys
Peters is certainly one of the most decorated tackles in the NFL. Along with bringing a championship pedigree to the Cowboys, he’s a nine-time Pro Bowler. On top of that, Peters is a two-time All-Pro in the league and is already a part of the Hall of Fame 2010’s team. That’s quite a resume, and it sounds a lot like one of the people he’d be replacing.
Peters was relatively healthy last year with the Chicago Bears, and at this point in his career, he’d be holding down the fort. Yes, he bounced back from an eight-game season in 2020 (his last with the Eagles) and played pretty much the whole year for the Bears. By the season’s conclusion, Peters had played 853 snaps, quite a jump from 508. By comparison, Smith’s health has been a major issue. In the last two years alone, Smith only accumulated 893 snaps, a total that Peters nearly surpassed in just one season.
The caveat here is Peters’ age. Realistically speaking, he’ll likely only have one or maybe two more years where he can sustain this level of play. Luckily for him, the Cowboys need only that from him, a stopgap solution until they can figure out a long-term strategy. Smith is only 31 years old, but injuries have already begun to catch up with him, hence the need for a 40-year-old tackle just days before the season begins.
Dallas Cowboys would be getting a balanced player at LT
For the better part of more than a decade, Peters has been a stalwart tackle in the NFL. In fact, you could make the argument that other than Zack Martin (and Smith, of course), he’d be the best lineman on the Cowboys’ roster.
Last year alone, Peters surrendered just three penalties to the Bears. Even though he allowed six sacks, Peters maintained a 77.9 pass-blocking grade, per Pro Football Focus. In hindsight, that’s better than what’s available currently via free agency. The Cowboys can only go as far as Prescott takes them; having Peters protect him makes too much sense not to do it.
Prior to the 2020 season that saw Peters deal with an injury, he was nearly elite in terms of pass blocking in 2019. He had an 87.3 PFF grade, which was nearly tops among left tackles. Take that into consideration. We’re only two years removed from that. In addition, he allowed just 21 pressures that year.
While his run-blocking isn’t quite on par with the rest of his game, he’s still pretty nimble for his age. He ended last season with a 70.7 grade in that department. He was no doubt a key cog in the Bears’ 14th-ranked rushing offense that posted 2,018 yards on the ground.
Dallas Cowboys need to just make the deal happen already
Some Cowboys fans will point to how desperate the move to sign Peters appears to be. A somewhat fair assessment when you consider his age, but that’s more of a Cowboys’ internal problem. The fact is, Jones did little to improve his roster this offseason. If anything, they took a “thrifty” approach in letting many of their key contributors walk away and even decided to trade some of them.
Unless the Cowboys’ brain trust has a trade in mind, signing Peters is the best option right now. You protect Prescott with a proven commodity and assure yourself that reliable pass protection will remain in place during Smith’s absence without surrendering draft capital. It’s a win-win.
Josh Ball and Matt Waletzko aren’t the answers right now, and you can’t possibly justify them being on the tackle committee tasked with Prescott’s security this season. The 2020 offseason was a PR nightmare for Jones. Picking up Peters helps to soothe some of that friction. Let’s face it, the owner could do worse at this point.