The Cowboys have come to terms on a long-term extension with a star player and, no, it's not running back Ezekiel Elliott.
Dallas has agreed to an extension with linebacker Jaylon Smith, according to a report from NFL Media.
The #Cowboys have reached a long-term extension with LB Jaylon Smith, sources tell me and @MikeGarafolo
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 20, 2019
Specifics of the contract have not come out yet.
Smith is in the final year of the four-year, $6.49 million contract he signed with Dallas when he was drafted by the team in the second round in 2016.
He missed all of the following season as he was drafted soon after he suffered a horrific leg injury in the final game of his career at Notre Dame.
But after coming back he was a force at linebacker and helped Dallas produce the sixth-best scoring defense in the NFL in 2018 and the seventh-best in total defense.
Smith has started in 22 of his 32 career games with Dallas and started all 16 for the Cowboys in 2018.
During that year he recorded 121 tackles (82 solo) to go with six tackles for loss, six quarterback hits, two forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and a fumble return for a touchdown.
It is unclear how Smith's contract could affect Elliott's as the star running back continues to hold out while waiting for a new deal.
Dallas also wants to get deals done with quarterback Dak Prescott and wide receiver Amari Cooper. But it may be tough to get every man paid, though one former Cowboys star thinks they can get it done.
"I think that Jerry and Stephen Jones have done this a long time," former Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo told Omnisport last week. "I think all their deals are going to get done.
"I don't think it's much deeper than they love all of their players, I think they want them to get done. They're also trying to do right by the entire football team too and I think they're all going to get paid a lot of money. And I think they're all going to be Dallas Cowboys for a long time …it's just part of the business side that goes on right now."