The Jaguars are cutting veteran linebacker Malcolm Smith, per a team announcement. The Jags signed Smith at the end of October. He lasted two games with the team. Smith appeared in 29 special teams snaps but did not register a statistic with Jacksonville.
The last couple of years have been rough for Smith, who memorably took home the Super Bowl XLVIII MVP Award as a member of the Seahawks. He signed a two-year, $7.5M pact with the Raiders in March 2015, and though he was a full-time starter for the Silver and Black and compiled over 100 tackles in both of his seasons in Oakland, advanced metrics were not terribly fond of his play.
Nevertheless, he was able to parlay his strong raw statistics with the Raiders into a five-year, $26.5M deal with the 49ers in March 2017. Then he missed the entire 2017 campaign due to a torn pectoral muscle, and he was cut by the 49ers before the start of the 2019 campaign despite agreeing to a pay cut earlier in the year. The 30-year-old will now look to catch on with another club in need of veteran LB depth.
In a related move, the Jags signed fellow linebacker Joe Giles-Harris to their practice squad. Jacksonville cut Giles-Harris over the weekend to make room for wideout Michael Walker, but the Jags clearly want to keep him in the fold.
More transactions could be in the offing, as the club has an open spot on its 53-man roster and on its practice squad.
More must-reads: