Jets agree to terms with ex-Cowboys LT Smith
The New York Jets agreed to terms on a contract with former Dallas Cowboys left tackle Tyron Smith, a person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press.
The move Friday night completes an overhaul of New York’s offensive line, the focus of the offseason for the Jets and general manager Joe Douglas.
The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the team hadn’t announced the move. NFL Network first reported the deal and ESPN reported it will be a one-year contract that could be worth up to $20 million, including incentives.
The Jets also re-signed defensive lineman Solomon Thomas earlier Friday, a person familiar with the deal told the AP.
The 33-year-old Smith, a two-time All-Pro and eighttime Pro Bowl selection, solidifies an O-line that struggled with production and consistency last season. Smith will be tasked with protecting the blind side of quarterback Aaron Rodgers and will team with returning center Joe Tippmann and right guard Alijah Vera-Tucker, recently signed left guard John Simpson and right tackle Morgan Moses, who was acquired this week from Baltimore.
Smith started 13 games last season and returned to his dominant form after being limited to just 17 games over the previous three seasons because of injuries.
He played all 13 of his NFL seasons with the Cowboys after being the ninth overall pick in the 2011 draft out of USC.
Thomas has played the last two seasons in New York, where he has become an important part of the Jets’ defensive line rotation while also establishing himself as an on-field and locker room leader.
RAMS: Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo has signed with the Los Angeles Rams as the backup to Matthew Stafford.
Safety Kamren Curl also agreed to terms on a twoyear contract with the Rams on Friday.
Garoppolo was released Wednesday by the Las Vegas Raiders after one disappointing season. He is best known to Rams fans from his years with the archrival San Francisco 49ers from 2017-22, during which he went 8-0 as a starter against Los Angeles in the regular season.
Rams coach Sean McVay has spoken admiringly of the 32-year-old Garoppolo for years, and now the veteran passer will be the primary backup to Stafford. The Super Bowl-winning star is returning for his 16th NFL season after a strong bounceback performance in 2023.
Garoppolo made six starts last season for the Raiders before getting benched midway through the season. He threw nine interceptions and seven TD passes in the first season of his three-year, $72.75 million contract, but new coach Antonio Pierce moved away from Garoppolo after taking over.
Garoppolo also got a two-game NFL suspension last month for violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs, which means he won’t be available to play for the Rams until Week 3.
The Rams began last year with rookie Stetson Bennett as Stafford’s backup, but the two-time college national champion left the team for undisclosed reasons before the regular season and never returned.
Brett Rypien struggled through 1 1/2 games as Stafford’s replacement while the star was injured, and Los Angeles signed Carson Wentz late in the season. Wentz performed well in his only significant appearance for Los Angeles in Week 18, beating the 49ers while both teams were resting key players for the postseason.
Curl’s deal is worth $8.75 million and could be worth up to $12.75 million. He spent his first four NFL seasons with the Washington Commanders, and quickly became a key component of their defense, earning a starting job midway through his rookie season.
STEELERS-EAGLES TRADE: The brief and tumultuous Kenny Pickett era in Pittsburgh is over.
The Steelers are trading the quarterback to the Philadelphia Eagles, multiple sources told The Associated Press. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal was not official.
Pittsburgh will receive a third-round pick in this year’s NFL draft and two seventh-round choices in the 2025 draft in exchange for Pickett and Pittsburgh’s fourth-round pick this year.
The trade comes just hours after the Steelers signed ninetime Pro Bowler Russell Wilson to a one-year deal to compete with Pickett for the starting job, though all signs appeared to be pointing to Wilson having the edge when the team reported for training camp at Saint Vincent College in July.
Wilson declined to say he expected to be the starter when asked during his introductory press conference on Friday and added he and Pickett had connected shortly after Wilson agreed to terms with the team, saying they were both focused on making the Steelers better.
Instead, Wilson now finds himself as the only quarterback on the roster after the club cut Mitch Trubisky and third-stringer Mason Rudolph — who guided the Steelers to the playoffs after Pickett underwent ankle surgery in early December — signed with Tennessee.
Pickett, a first-round pick out of the University of Pittsburgh in 2022, went 14-10 as a starter but struggled to stay healthy and be a difference maker for an offense that languished near the bottom of the league.
COWBOYS: The Dallas Cowboys released linebacker Leighton Vander Esch and receiver Michael Gallup on Friday, cutting ties with two of their top three picks from the 2018 draft.
Vander Esch was released with a failed physical designation after missing 12 games with a neck injury in 2023. The injury was the fourth since 2019 involving the 28-year-old’s neck and was considered career-threatening.
Vander Esch had issues with his neck at Boise State before the Cowboys drafted him in the first round, and he set a club rookie record with 176 tackles while making his only Pro Bowl.
In part because of the neck issues, Dallas declined the fifth-year option on his rookie contract but brought him back in 2022 on a oneyear deal. Vander Esch had one year remaining on a two-year contract.
The move on Gallup was a cost-cutter for Dallas, just two years into the five-year contract he signed not long after tearing an ACL late in the 2021 season.
A third-round pick out of Colorado State, Gallup had his only 1,000-yard season in 2019, finishing with 1,107 yards and also getting a career high in touchdowns with six. He had just six touchdowns in his final two seasons combined.
The San Francisco 49ers found their help at linebacker, agreeing to a one-year deal with free agent De’Vondre Campbell.
A person familiar with the move said on Friday that Campbell will sign with San Francisco as soon as he passes a physical. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the move hadn’t been announced.
The Niners were looking for help at linebacker with the status of Dre Greenlaw in question after he tore his Achilles tendon during the Super Bowl loss against Kansas City.
Campbell spent his first four seasons in Atlanta and one in Arizona before breaking through in 2021 in Green Bay. He had 146 tackles, five passes defensed and two interceptions that season and earned first-team All-Pro honors.
Campbell, who turns 31 in July, was unable to match that production the past two seasons when he missed 10 games with injuries. But he does give San Francisco a dependable starter alongside All-Pro Fred Warner until Greenlaw returns and then can fill the third linebacker role after that.