Dallas had a massive tackle problem entering the offseason. While the left tackle spot has now been taken by Tyler Guyton, Terence Steele’s right tackle spot stays with him because the Dallas Cowboys do not have a better option.

“T-Steele’s got to play a little bit more consistent,” head coach Brian Schottenheimer said, via ESPN. “He has had a couple days where he’s been a little bit dropping his pads and getting edged a little bit. He needs to be better.”

Steele is entering the seventh season of his pro career with Dallas and has been a full-time starter at right tackle for the past three years now. However, the issues that the head coach now has with him were raised during his draft and combine process too.

One of the weaknesses that Steele’s resume showed was “excessive stiffness in knees,” which leads to waist bending and eventually losing their core power base. This ruins the balance and completely shifts the advantage to the defender.

However, offensive coordinator Klayton Adams says the issue is not his skills or abilities. It is that Steele is overworked.

“He and I had a good conversation about that this morning of how we continue to try to find consistency,” Adams said. “He’s a guy that’s going into Year 7, and he’s never going to ask for a day off. He’s never going to ask for a break. So we’re just searching for ways to help him and help him play at his best and most consistently.”

In Tuesday’s joint practice with the New Orleans Saints, Steele was replaced by Nate Thomas, who was competing with Guyton for the left tackle job. Reports suggest the team is trying to develop another option for Steele, who was ranked 51st among 84 tackles by PFF.

Over the past three seasons, Steele has started all 17 games each year, playing 98% to 100% of offensive snaps. Last season, he allowed six sacks and 52 pressures while posting a 54.9 pass-blocking grade and a 70.2 run-blocking grade.

Steele signed with the Cowboys in 2020 as an undrafted free agent and immediately became a starter, starting 14 games that season. He has been the longest-tenured lineman in Dallas.

Interestingly, this all comes after Steele agreed to a contract restructure this year. The two parties agreed to a three-year, $33 million deal with almost $22 million guaranteed. The right tackle was going to make over $46 million in the next three years under the former contract, but at least he has some of it guaranteed.

For Schottenheimer and Adams, the goal is clear. They need Steele to stay healthy and play at a higher level, even if that means managing his reps more carefully. For Steele, the challenge is to prove he can still be a reliable right tackle despite the wear and tear of seven seasons.