Making calls to Jaylon Smith and Stephon Gilmore’s potential as KC Chiefs

On Wednesday morning came the news of two top NFL players – in needy Kansas City Chiefs positions – potentially free on the open market. Former Dallas Cowboys linebacker Jaylon Smith and future former New England Patriots cornerback Stephon Gilmore are suddenly available.

Linebacker Jaylon Smith

On Tuesday night, the Dallas Cowboys chose to release linebacker Jaylon Smith. However, NFL Network Mike Garafolo reported that it won’t become official until Wednesday afternoon, so an exchange is highly unlikely, but possible.

When a team chooses to release a player like Smith, 26, who still owes $ 7.2 million this season, that means league-wide trading options have been completely exhausted (also known as the Chiefs Likely Got a Call – and like the other 30 teams, weren’t interested).

RJ Ochoa from our sister site, Blog boys, offered to stop by to discuss his six years (2016-Wednesday) in Dallas. Remember, Smith suffered a horrific knee injury during the 2016 Fiesta Bowl.

The Dallas Cowboys took a chance on Smith and drafted him with the 34th overall pick that year, much to the speculation of many. Smith effectively redshirted his rookie year of 2016 and returned to the field in 2017 for what was his actual first season in the NFL. There were growing pains that year, but as he was playing football for the first time in a long time, after an intense recovery, patience was a must.

That’s when 2018 arrived. Alongside then-rookie Leighton Vander Esch, Smith prospered. He looked like the player lining up for the Fighting Irish and it seemed obvious the Cowboys had actually done it. Smith was named to the Pro Bowl, and the linebacker’s life looked set for at least the next half-decade.

The Cowboys rewarded Smith with a contract extension at the start of the 2019 season. During his press conference, Smith spoke about how much the Cowboys mean to him, how he recognizes the brand’s world level and how he feels. committed to continuing to care for its past and present communities.

The 2020 season was cut short for the Cowboys in several ways and defense was one of their worst assets. Smith played poorly and very sadly challenged people to “watch the movie” when asked if he thought he would make the squad at the end of the season (after the New York Giants beat the Cowboys in Week 17). Dallas responded by drafting Micah Parsons in the first round and Jabril Cox in the fourth and the math just didn’t seem to add up.

Over the past few weeks, the Cowboys have had Keanu Neal on the reserve / COVID-19 roster, but he’s now back and able to contribute. The reality is that while there is no financial advantage in keeping Smith, he is the team’s fifth linebacker at best and does not play against special teams. Something had to give.

Perhaps knowing more about his knee problem and ability to move sideways than anyone else (as your own team often does), the Cowboys knowingly accepted a $ 16.6million dead cap rather than keeping it in the club, risking having to generously pay a player who does not take the field due to injury or talent in 2022.

Despite the Chiefs’ need for depth for the linebacker, this is a no.

Make the call: No thanks.

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Cornerback Stephon Gilmore

The second news certainly hits a little harder: 2019 NFL Defensive Player of the Year – 31-year-old cornerback Stephon Gilmore – could potentially be available; New England would try to free the All-Pro first team on two occasions.

The first two things to note about Gilmore are that he was not happy with his contact with the Patriots and that he also had surgery in the offseason to repeat a partially torn quad that put him on the PUP list (physically unable to play) to start the year.

Here is the key to everything:

The Patriots have gone from being an unhappy and injured player in the final year of his contract, now giving them an additional $ 5.8 million in ceiling space and the flexibility to bring on board healthy (at least) linebacker Jamie Collins, for example.

Where Gilmore ends up will be quite interesting, especially considering the affinity of the star cornerback for a certain quarterback.

Gilmore is a stallion – but he’s injured, so interested teams will need to get a feel for his health before giving him a contract. I imagine that even if he’s in good health, no team will be willing to come up with a mega-deal just yet, so a free Gilmore probably signs with a team for a 10-11 game streak this season. NFL. , highly motivated to land a huge contract during the next offseason.

But there is a wrinkle here: Gilmore has not been released as of this writing, make a trade still possible. I think the chiefs will do their due diligence here and may have already done so.

If he Is become available, the Chiefs will also surely make an argument in a short-term deal. The Chiefs are publicly traded to currently have just over $ 3 million in ceiling space (Spotrac has the Chiefs with almost $ 2 million with the activation of Josh Gordon), so that would be complicated. The Patrick Mahomes factor is there, but Gilmore would bet on making an impact – for lack of better conditions yet – by helping to save a below-par defense (currently) to score big.

I find it much more likely that – again, if he becomes available – he will choose to join a better defense where he can play a less demanding role, like Cleveland or Tampa Bay. I expect the chefs to call, though. You never really know.

Make the call: Yes, that could potentially improve the defense considerably – but the possibility of him ending up in Kansas City seems slim.