Aldon Smith

Aldon Smith is signing a one-year deal with the Seattle Seahawks, according to Mike Garafolo. Details of the deal were not announced.

Fantasy Impact

Smith returned to professional football last season after a four-year odyssey away from the field. He totaled 31 tackles, five sacks, 14 QB hits, five tackles for loss, and two passes defended. Smith, though, notably tailed off in the second half of the season, not registering a sack after Week 8. He ranked No. 50 among edge defenders in Pro Football Focus' grading system.

Per Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo of NFL Network, veteran DE Aldon Smith is visiting the Seattle Seahawks.

Fantasy Impact

Even though Smith is a player that had his seemingly stellar NFL career derailed several years due to off the field issues, the veteran DE is still drawing interest as evident from his visit with Seattle. Smith, 31-years old, is a coming off a season in 2020, where he played 16 games for the Cowboys and lead the team with 50 QB pressures, while also accounting for five sacks. Seattle has reportedly been keeping tabs on Smith for a while and would likely get a good deal on the low-risk, high-reward DE.

Per Ed Werder of ESPN, the Dallas Cowboys have informed DE Aldon Smith that he will not be returning to the team for the 2021 season.

Fantasy Impact

Even though Smith started 16 games in 2020 and totaled five sacks for Dallas the veteran DE will officially be playing somewhere else in 2021. Prior to 2020, Smith hadn't played in the NFL since 2015, due to several off-field issues. The 31-year old will look to continue his comeback story for a team needing edge help that is willing to take a chance on a high upside, veteran player.

Cowboys' owner Jerry Jones expects DE Aldon Smith (knee) to play in Sunday's Week 9 contest against the Steelers.

Fantasy Impact

Smith has been limited in practice this week, but is expected to play Sunday. He's racked up 35 tackles and five sacks over eight games this season. Smith is a borderline DL1 in IDP league formats and currently 12th among all defensive lineman in the latest expert consensus rankings for Week 9.

Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy told reporters he’s “very happy with where Aldon is right now.”

Fantasy Impact

The full quote from McCarthy: “If you walked away from practice, you would say, ‘Hey, who the hell is No. 58?’ You can see his power, his length is extraordinary...I’m very happy with where Aldon is right now.” Smith hasn’t played since 2015, but it sounds like the Cowboys are really impressed with his progress in camp thus far. If the 30-year old former first-round pick can regain his form from the early 2010s, he’ll be a great pick up for a Cowboys defensive line that unfortunately just lost DT Gerald McCoy for the season to injury.