Dallas Cowboys impressed with suspended DE Aldon Smith, waiting on NFL reinstatement
The Dallas Cowboys have an idea how newly-signed defensive end — and currently suspended — Aldon Smith will fit into new coach Mike McCarthy’s defensive scheme.
However, what they do not know is when, and if, he will be reinstated by the NFL. Smith has not played in the NFL since being placed on an indefinite suspension in 2015 for violating the league’s substance abuse policy. His reinstatement application is being reviewed by the league.
Defensively, the Cowboys intend to use a 4-3 base with the ability to switch to the 3-4 scheme, and they see Smith as a designated pass rusher who can wreak havoc on opposing offensives from either the end or outside linebacker positions. Team management has been impressed with Smith’s renewed commitment and are supporting him in the process.
“Aldon has been in the process of re-entering as an active player in the NFL for several months now,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said Tuesday in speaking publicly on Smith for the first time since the team signed him to a one-year deal earlier this month. “I would say first-hand that I know that he is very diligent in his work to do the things the NFL looks at to reinstate. It was important to us to look eye to eye and see where we are with our conscientiousness.”
Although Jones has been known to take a risk on a troubled star, Smith signing with the Cowboys should be linked more with the team’s new head coach.
Earlier this year, McCarthy was visiting his daughter in Los Angeles, which is where Smith was training at the time. Smith was working out and rehabbing at Jay Glazer’s Unbreakable Gym and is part of the Merging Veterans and Players Program that the coach is helping to fund.
“I was up there on a personal nature,” McCarthy said. “I was very impressed with everything that he’s done and his path. I’ve always admired him from afar. Very impressive young man, and I’m looking forward to working with him.”
In addition to looking to reinstate Smith, the Cowboys are seeking to bring back a second defensive end, Randy Gregory, who the league said in February also violated its substance abuse policy.
Jones said the team will be patient and respect the process but declared that both players are adhering to the protocols necessary for reinstatement. “I wouldn’t dare get into where the league is and how they will go about this process for both of those players.”
This story was originally published April 22, 2020 at 9:00 AM.
