Maybe the health of the offensive line is a little more concerning that we realize
Tyron Smith is dealing with a bad back. Sure, he’s only 28-years-old, but let’s not forget that he’s been in the league since he was 20, so he’s put a lot of mileage on that body. Eight years spent with the league’s most powerful edge rushers pound on you can be very jarring on that back. He has missed three games in each of the last three seasons, and it wouldn’t shock anyone if he misses time again this season. The Cowboys are already mindful of that, which is why swing tackle
Cameron Fleming received the second-biggest contract of any of their free agent signings this offseason.
If the team has concerns about Smith’s health, they could be leaving the door open for a possible exit strategy. Even though Smith does have five years left on his contract, his dead money hit drops to $5.2 M after this season and just $1.7 M the year after that.
Nobody wants to think about life without Smith, but if you look at all the recent decisions the team has made regarding the offensive line, something’s a bit askew. The team went super heavy at offensive line for their final roster, including hanging on to undrafted free agent
Brandon Knight, who just so happens to be able to play tackle. And one of their practice squad players is UDFA Mitch Hyatt. The team is making sure they have tackle depth.
Maybe the decision to keep Collins has nothing to do with Smith specifically, but just the collective concern of their star linemen in general.
Zack Martin is also dealing with a back issue. His was bad enough that he was shelved for training camp to allow him more time to heal. Should
Martin become unavailable, that means they would need to call on that interior line depth to help out. That could foil their chance to move
Connor Williams outside to cover for La’el if Williams is needed inside. Keeping Collins on the roster means they’d no longer have to worry about moving Williams, who will hopefully show great improvement at the left guard position this year. Securing their talent along the offensive line is great, but doesn’t it comes with a cost?
https://www.bloggingtheboys.com/201...ell-us-about-the-future-of-the-dallas-cowboys