![\"Mazi](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/tampa-bay-buccaneers-v-dallas-cowboys-arlington-texas-december-22-mazi-e1788043238891.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Dallas Cowboys defensive tackle Mazi Smith. <\/p>\n
The writing was on the wall for defensive tackle Mazi Smith<\/a> with the Dallas Cowboys<\/a> before the 2025 season \u2014 he was about to be out the door \u2014 but the former 1st-round pick got a new start with the New York Jets<\/a>.<\/p>\n Less than 1 year later, he\u2019s looking for a new home.<\/p>\n \u201cJets are releasing defensive tackle Mazi Smith, who was included in last season\u2019s trade with Dallas for Quinnen Williams<\/a>,\u201d ESPN\u2019s Adam Schefter wrote<\/a> on his official X account on Saturday.<\/p>\n \u201cBREAKING: The Jets are releasing DT Mazi Smith,\u201d Preme Football wrote<\/a> on its official X account. \u201cThe former 1st-round pick was acquired by New York last season as part of the blockbuster Quinnen Williams trade with Dallas. In 39 games, he has 57 tackles and 2 sacks.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cFormer First Round DT Mazi Smith being released by Jets,\u201d Giants Coach Carb wrote<\/a> on his official X account.\u00a0<\/p>\n Smith\u2019s 34.7 overall grade from Pro Football Focus in 2024 \u2014 his last complete season with the Cowboys \u2014 put him among the worst defensive tackles in the NFL<\/a>\u00a0at 207th out of 219 eligible players at his position.<\/p>\n Mazi Smith Big-Time Bust for Cowboys<\/p>\n The Cowboys traded for 2 different Pro Bowl defensive tackles in the last calendar year, with Kenny Clark<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Quinnen Williams <\/a>\u2014 which speaks to how desperate they were at the position.<\/p>\n The reason things reached that point was also very clear \u2014 using a 1st-round pick on Smith.<\/p>\n Shipped off to the\u00a0New York Jets<\/a> at the 2025 NFL trade deadline in the deal that brought Williams to the Cowboys, Smith was at the top of a list of NFL players who could use a career \u201creboot\u201d from Bleacher Report\u2019s Brent Sobleski<\/a>\u00a0before mincamp in May.<\/p>\n \u201cMazi Smith\u2019s potential is built upon an obvious contradiction,\u201d Sobleski wrote. \u201cThe 6\u20193\u2033, 323-pound defensive lineman is an elite athlete. At the same time, he\u2019s a poor technician. One negates the other \u2026 it now falls on the Jets\u2019 staff to ensure the nose tackle can realize some of his immense upside. At bare minimum, Smith can be an effective space-eater simply by firing off the ball with good pad level to take advantage of his brute strength and powerful hands. He doesn\u2019t need to be a disruptive playmaker. New York now has significant talent found among its front seven. Smith\u2019s concentration should be focused on playing low, doing the dirty work in the trenches and making life easier for everyone around him.\u201d<\/p>\n The Jets\u00a0declined the 5th year option on Smith\u2019s contract<\/a> ahead of the May 1 deadline.<\/p>\n Brutal Scouting Job by Cowboys in 2023<\/p>\n The Cowboys\u2019 scouting department did a pretty awful job in 2023 in drafting Smith with the No. 26 overall pick.<\/p>\n In the next 20 picks alone, the Cowboys could have had players who would still likely be contributing starters \u2014 if not stars \u2014 in Dallas with New Orleans Saints<\/a> defensive tackle Bryan Bresee<\/a> (No. 29 overall), Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a> cornerback Joey Porter<\/a> Jr. (No. 32 overall), Detroit Lions<\/a> Pro Bowl tight end Sam LaPorta<\/a> (No. 34 overall), and Detroit Lions Pro Bowl safety Brian Branch<\/a> (No. 45 overall).<\/p>\n The biggest steal of the 2023 draft \u2014 and perhaps the best player in the entire draft \u2014 was way down the line with 2-time NFL All-Pro Los Angeles Rams<\/a> wide receiver Puka Nacua<\/a> in the 5th round.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tTony Adame<\/a> covers the NFL for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Denver Broncos, Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, San Francisco 49ers, and the entire NFC East Division. A veteran sports writer and editor since 2004, his work has been featured at Stadium Talk, Yardbarker, NW Florida Daily News and Pensacola News Journal. More about Tony Adame<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Dallas Cowboys defensive tackle Mazi Smith. The writing was on the wall for defensive tackle Mazi Smith…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":420834,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[102,104,103],"class_list":["post-420833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=420833"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420833\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/420834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=420833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=420833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=420833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}