Ito

Smith

It’s a cap clearing move for the Cowboys as they try to get compliant. Foster did not play a regular season snap in 2021 and is likely only a depth option that can play special teams at this point. The Cowboys also released RB Ito Smith and DB Reggie Robinson, and the three moves combine to save about $3 million in cap space.

With Ezekiel Elliott unlikely to see more than a few snaps in a meaningless Week 18 game, Corey Clement, Smith, and Hardy could be in line for carries against the Eagles. Tony Pollard (foot) has been declared out for the game.

Smith made it five days in Minnesota, and has now been cut twice this month. Smith never showed any juice in Atlanta and is already close to bombing out of the league at age 25.

Smith spent two weeks with the Cardinals earlier this month but was released between their first and second preseason games. The addition of Smith could mean that fourth-round rookie Kene Nwangwu’s knee injury is worse than initially thought. If Nwangwu misses time, Smith will compete for RB3 duties with Ameer Abdullah. The Vikings waived quarterback Danny Etling in a corresponding move.

The Cardinals release Ito Smith as a corresponding move. Conner was considered a close contact of one of the other Cardinals players who tested positive for the virus. TE Darrell Daniels, DL Leki Fotu, and S Charles Washington were also removed from the team’s COVID list. ESPN’s Josh Weinfuss reported in July that Conner and Chase Edmonds will “split the primary reps to start, with whoever has the hot hand getting the ball.” Probably that’s on the optimistic side of Conner’s 2021 range of outcomes. His ninth round ADP in 12-team leagues means fantasy managers are bullish on his prospects as a timeshare back who could see goal line work in Arizona’s offense.

Smith was cut by Atlanta back in April and recently worked out for Arizona. He takes the roster spot of RB Khalfani Muhammad. Smith has averaged a pedestrian 3.9 yards per carry on 175 career totes since being a fourth-round pick by the Falcons. Smith will compete for a role behind Chase Edmonds and James Conner.

Smith is being cut loose with one year remaining on his rookie contract. Considering the barren state of the Falcons’ backfield, getting waived at this stage of the offseason bodes poorly for Smith’s NFL future. Headed into what will be his age-26 campaign, Smith has never shown more than replacement-level running skills. The same is true for his pass catching, where he has averaged a woeful 5.7 yards per grab. Smith will hope to get a shot on someone’s 90-man roster to grind for No. 3 duties during training camp.

Interim coach Raheem Morris called smith the Falcons’ lead runner before Week 16 but that role seemingly vanished in the final week of the season. Smith entered Week 17 with a rib injury so it’s possible that he was being given some rest in a meaningless game. Fellow backup runner Brian Hill is not under contract for the 2021 season and the Falcons are almost certainly going to let Todd Gurley walk in free agency. They are also likely to seek out a new running back either via the draft or free agency but the potential departures of Gurley and Hill should keep Smith in the backup role next year. He ends his 2020 campaign with 63 carries for 268 yards and a touchdown.

Smith, Todd Gurley, and Brian Hill have all been seeing work in this unimpressive backfield. None of the three are anything more than last-resort RB3/FLEX plays for Week 17 against the Bucs.

Despite a supposedly greater commitment this week, Smith out-touched Todd Gurley just 11-8. It was only Smith’s third biggest workload of the year. It wasn’t because of game flow, as the contest remained tight for 60 minutes. Smith will be an unappealing Week 17 DFS option against the Bucs.