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By Bob Sturm 1h ago
The fact that the Aldon Smith signing came on April 1 certainly wasn’t lost on most observers. Perhaps it was some sort of Mad Libs-type prank. It required an extra confirmation or two, and you can understand those who still have their questions, despite an actual picture of the man signing his contract on Instagram.
Regardless of the surreal nature of the news being broken on April Fools’ Day by Jay Glazer and verified by Smith himself, it appears to be a very authentic piece of NFL curiosity that after four years away from professional football, Aldon Smith is signing a deal to return to the league.
And anyone who follows the NFL had to know that the shortlist of usual suspects who might see whether there is any meat left on that bone would always include the Dallas Cowboys. The team that scooped up Greg Hardy, Alonzo Spellman, Rolando McClain and a host of others when they thought they needed roster help has never been allergic to checking in on those with a checkered past in the Jerry Jones era. Discounts are found in all shapes and sizes, and nothing gets you a better discount than players who nobody else will touch.
The potential of working side by side with Randy Gregory will only enhance the theme: If you are going to attempt to turn your career around, the Cowboys would very much enjoy if you would do so while wearing their uniform.
It is obviously impossible to look at a player like Aldon Smith and not consider how many poor decisions he has made. As you go down the considerable rap sheet, which spans almost a decade and includes yet another DUI last June, it is more than reasonable to assume there are no fewer than 25 NFL organizations that would not touch him with a 10-foot pole.
Yet we have seen this episode enough times to know the Cowboys don’t mind this sort of thing. They are always excited to restart the machine if it gets them production that is found for next to nothing in between the sofa cushions. The questions about who wanted this to happen will circulate in the coming weeks and months, with many figuring another coaching staff is being strong-armed by Jerry Jones himself.
The reality seems to suggest a different pair of relationships led to this agreement. First, Jay Glazer, who took Smith in as part of his Merging Vets and Players program, has long had a connection with Stephen Jones.
The second happens to be new defensive line coach Jim Tomsula, who coached Smith in 2011 through 2014 in San Francisco. You would be very hard-pressed to find a coach who knows Aldon Smith as well as Tomsula, so there will likely be no surprises.
Without those two partnerships, it’s unlikely Smith gets in the door in Dallas for however long he does ultimately stay here.
Speaking of unique figures, we have avoided talking much about Aldon Smith, the player, until now. Let’s do that, while understanding that so much of the Dez Bryant discussion over the last few years has been based on the premise that time waits for no man. In professional football, special physical abilities and traits do not remain the property of any human. They are captured, carefully maintained and preserved, or they are lost and never recovered. In other words, if you are kissed by the angels with the talent required to become an NFL star for a small amount of time, you had better enjoy it because those are fleeting moments. It could be injuries, or personal conduct, or just the flipping of the calendar that causes your clock to strike midnight. Years later, the public will still think you have those special powers, and you might still have traces. But in bulk, they have vanished, and you are again a mortal man by NFL standards.
Aldon Smith was a freak of nature. An absolutely absurd pass rush animal. He would line up against left tackles and utterly destroy them to the tune of about a sack per game. Do you know how rare it is for someone to arrive into the NFL and after three years have 42 sacks in 43 regular-season games?
Outside of Smith, the entire list would be Reggie White and Derrick Thomas. Two of the very best pass rushers ever. They are both in the Hall of Fame and are singular athletes. In fact, we should probably disallow Reggie White because he was 24 as a rookie after some time in the USFL. In other words, he was already a man when his clock started while Aldon was just approaching his 22nd birthday. Those developmental years mean a lot, especially at this position. Either way, that is an awfully short list. For context, look at the top 20 pass rushers of all-time in terms of sacks in their first three NFL seasons:
All-time Sacks, Years 1-3
| RK | PLAYER | TM | G | SK▼ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Reggie White* | PHI | 41 | 52 |
| 2 | Derrick Thomas* | KAN | 47 | 43.5 |
| 3 | Aldon Smith | SFO | 43 | 42 |
| 4 | Dwight Freeney | CLT | 47 | 40 |
| 5 | Shawne Merriman | SDG | 42 | 39.5 |
| 6 | Richard Dent* | CHI | 48 | 37.5 |
| 7 | J.J. Watt | HTX | 48 | 36.5 |
| 8 | Jevon Kearse | OTI | 48 | 36 |
| 9 | Anthony Smith | RAI | 47 | 36 |
| 10 | Von Miller | DEN | 40 | 35 |
| 11 | Robert Quinn | RAM | 47 | 34.5 |
| 12 | T.J. Watt | PIT | 47 | 34.5 |
| 13 | Bruce Smith* | BUF | 44 | 33.5 |
| 14 | DeMarcus Ware | DAL | 48 | 33.5 |
| 15 | Bill Pickel | RAI | 48 | 31 |
| 16 | Myles Garrett | CLE | 37 | 30.5 |
| 17 | Terrell Suggs | RAV | 48 | 30.5 |
| 18 | Mario Williams | HTX | 48 | 30.5 |
| 19 | Ezekiel Ansah | DET | 46 | 30 |
| 20 | Peter Boulware | RAV | 48 | 30 |
J.J. Watt, Von Miller, T.J. Watt, DeMarcus Ware and Myles Garrett all look up at young Aldon Smith. The only names above him were rookies in the 1980s. Aldon was on his own level with his ability to use a powerful bull-rush, unreal hand skills and great quickness.
But, like Icarus, he certainly flew too close to the sun off the field. Smith earned his first NFL suspension in 2013 and has had all sorts of issues ranging from alcohol and drug abuse, weapons charges, domestic abuse allegations, car accidents and even the odd airport security dust-up. He has been suspended over and over again, and even now needs to be reinstated to be eligible, although that is thought to be a formality because he hasn't been in the NFL since 2015.
This, of course, is its own curiosity. There are almost no cases in NFL history of players disappearing for the entirety of four full seasons and coming back for even an appearance, let alone an impactful one. Bronko Nagurski returned to the Bears in 1943 after last playing in 1937, but this was because of a shortage of players during World War II. I apologize for almost no other comparisons, because that one doesn't seem to relate to this one in any way, shape, or form.
Aldon will turn 31 years of age in September. I have posted some of his finer moments on my Twitter feed this morning, but I will confess that moments which happened in 2013 hardly seem relevant in the NFL in 2020. The man has certainly squandered most of his career, and if he merely returns to make the team, it would equal one of the biggest redemption stories we have seen in professional football. If he ends up starting, it would be an even greater accomplishment. And if he offers a noteworthy contribution while staying clean off the field? The NFL's Comeback Player of the Year award will not even require a vote.
The contract is a completely non-guaranteed deal featuring $2 million in base salary and up to $2 million more in incentives. In other words, there is absolutely no risk to this deal at all for the Cowboys, and it sounds like he will need to be in full compliance to even earn his weekly paycheck. For this chance at returning to the NFL, Aldon Smith will have to demonstrate he has fully recovered and is now quite serious about being on a NFL roster.
But what sort of player might he be? Surely, his traits cannot be what they once were. What impact could he make? The Cowboys have brought on a number of reclamation projects over the years, and this is the fourth former first-round pick they have added to their defense this year alone. Some are fine professionals, and some haven't played since Tony Romo was the Cowboys' unchallenged starter. Aldon Smith's final season in the NFL featured sacks against the Broncos' Peyton Manning, the Vikings' Teddy Bridgewater and the Bears' Jay Cutler.
It has been a very long time since he made an impact. But now he will get his chance in Dallas, where the Cowboys seem to have few real candidates to start opposite DeMarcus Lawrence as the other edge rusher besides Aldon Smith and Randy Gregory.
Taking a flyer on a player is one thing. Taking it on a guy who has been off pro football's radar for over a presidential term seems crazy.
As you can tell, the range of outcomes is absurdly immense. When right, both of these men have shown to have very impressive abilities. When wrong, both of these men have shown to be unavailable to their employers for years at a time. This could go very well or very poorly, with the odds taking the latter over the former. Like a moth to a flame, the Cowboys sometimes just cannot help themselves. Maybe this time it pays off for them, but the NFL seems to doubt it.
It is the ultimate wait-and-see, but also a chance for Aldon Smith to write his own redemption story. Maybe the man has figured out his life enough to think he can handle the bright lights and high stakes of pro football again.
But you can excuse any observer for being pessimistic or cynical until it happens.
