The Jets have another new bookend.
All-Pro left tackle Tyron Smith, who spent the first 13 years of his career in Dallas, is expected to sign with the New York Jets, according to multiple reports, on a one-year deal that ESPN's Rich Cimini reports could be worth up to $20 million with incentives.
Smith was expected to return to the Cowboys but the situation changed at the NFL Scouting Combine over two weeks ago, when multiple insiders reported that Dallas and Smith's representatives were at an impasse in negotiations.
Still, the door wasn't completely closed on Smith returning to Dallas for a 14th season when the lineman went unsigned in the first few days of free agency, and Cowboys EVP Stephen Jones said at an event Thursday night that the team was open to Smith coming back.
"No one thinks more of Tyron," Jones said. "Tyron Smith is going to be a Hall of Famer football player. He's had an amazing career and we certainly haven't shut the door on a continued career here in Dallas. He's a man's man and he's one of the great left tackles to ever play the game. No one feels better about Tyron Smith than this organization."
Smith, 33, was taken by the Cowboys with the ninth overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft and is one of the most decorated offensive linemen in franchise history, earning eight Pro Bowl nods, five All-Pro team honors - two of which were first-team - and making the NFL's 2010s All-Decade Team.
Smith will go from protecting the blind side of one high-profile quarterback in Dak Prescott to another in Aaron Rodgers in New York, and he'll do so on a completely revamped line, as the Jets have also added two former Ravens, right tackle Morgan Moses and left guard John Simpson, this week.
The Jets had one of the worst offensive lines in the NFL last season, starting 13 different combinations and allowing 64 sacks, 28th in the league. However, the team released Laken Tomlinson, who started all 17 games at left guard and lost tackle Mekhi Becton, who started 16, to free agency. Tackles Duane Brown and Billy Turner and the versatile Connor McGovern – who collectively made 12 of the other 52 starts on the line – also left, and Alijah Vera-Tucker is still a question mark after back-to-back seasons with a torn triceps and torn Achilles.
Smith, Moses, and Simpson will likely now be starters along with second-year center Joe Tippmann, who started 14 games total and the last 10 in the middle last season; if Vera-Tucker is not ready, Wes Schweitzer, who made two starts at right guard, or perhaps Max Mitchell, who played mostly tackle but had one start at RG, could fill the final spot, although Mitchell could be the third tackle as well.
The Jets do have the No. 10 pick in the Draft and could select another lineman there as well.