Linebacker-Thin Cowboys Signing Former Super Bowl MVP Malcolm Smith

FRISCO - The Dallas Cowboys hope to solve their injury-plagued linebacking corps by signing Super Bowl XLVIII MVP Malcolm Smith.

Smith, 30, played under Cowboys assistant Kris Richard in Seattle, where Richard served as the defensive coordinator and Smith reached the pinnacle of his nine-year NFL career.

Smith has not played since Week 9 when he was with the Jaguars before they released him Nov. 6. Dallas, 7-7 and leading the NFC East with a defacto playoff game in Philly on Sunday, needs help as Leighton Vander Esch (neck) and Luke Gifford (fractured forearm) are out while Joe Thomas (knee) and Sean Lee (pectoral, thigh) work to play through injuries.

The 6'2", 225-pounder was a 2011 seventh-round draft pick who has played in 102 games with 51 starts in his career. Smith has 393 tackles, six sacks, four interceptions, 17 pass breakups and nine forced fumbles.

Lee is coming off a stellar effort in a win over the Rams (a sack and an interception) and his running mate Jaylon Smith should be good to go in Philadelphia, where a Dallas win would clinch the NFC East title and a playoff berth. Hopefully it doesn’t come down to Malcolm Smith having to help. But he and Dallas D-lineman Michael Bennett (also a former Seahawk with Richard) are the only two players on this roster who’ve ever won a Super Bowl. So at least he knows the drill.