Former Dallas Cowboys defensive end Aldon Smith has agreed to a one-year deal with the Seattle Seahawks, a source told ESPN on Thursday.
After serving an indefinite suspension from 2016 to 2019 for multiple off-field incidents and violations of the league’s substance-abuse policy, Smith joined the Cowboys in 2020 on a one-year deal that could have paid him up to $4 million based on certain incentives.
He was informed on March 24 that he would not be re-signed by the Cowboys, a source told ESPN.
Smith, 31, started the season strong with a three-sack outing in Week 3 against the Seahawks, but finished the year with five sacks.
He was second to DeMarcus Lawrence on the Cowboys with 33 quarterback pressures and had 48 tackles, five tackles for loss and two fumble recoveries, returning one for a touchdown.
Smith played in every game for the Cowboys, seeing action on 808 defensive snaps — the most among Cowboys defensive linemen and fourth-most on the defense. All that work may have played a part with a late-season fade, as well as some injuries.
He quickly rose to stardom with a record 33.5 sacks in his first two NFL seasons with the San Francisco 49ers, with that total rising to a record 42 after three seasons. However, Smith got sidetracked off the field.
Smith had his first off-the-field incident in 2013, when he was arrested on suspicion of DUI after crashing his truck into a tree in a residential neighborhood in San Jose, California. In 2014, the NFL suspended him nine games for violating the league’s personal conduct and substance abuse policies.
In August 2015, Smith was released by the Niners the day after he was arrested on hit-and-run, DUI and vandalism charges. He signed with the Raiders a month later but was suspended for a year for violating the league’s substance abuse policy.
Smith was then released by the Raiders in 2018 after he was arrested on multiple charges including domestic violence, assault and false imprisonment. Smith pleaded no contest to a pair of misdemeanor charges in November 2018 to settle his domestic violence case from earlier that year.