Former starting cornerback Kevin Smith, at one time one of the NFL's top coverage defenders, has reached a settlement with the Dallas Cowboys on a grievance filed more than two years ago.

The settlement will pay Smith, who has not played since the middle of the '99 regular season, $90,000. That is only about 12 percent of the $750,000 in base salary he had been seeking, and will provide the Cowboys a rebate of $285,000 on their salary cap this year.

Smith, 32, retired during the 2000 training camp after being slowed by back problems. He asked for, and was granted, his release by the Cowboys but did not find any other teams interested in signing him. He subsequently filed the grievance, seeking his base salary for the 2000 season. The battle with the Cowboys is believed to be one of the longest-contested injury grievances in the last several years.

League rules stipulate that, during the grievance process, a franchise's cap is charged with half the player's salary, in this case $375,000. The Cowboys have been forced to carry that cap charge now into a third season. But with the settlement, Dallas gets back $285,000 on its cap, the difference between $375,000 and the $90,000 agreement reached this week.

Neither team officials nor Smith could be immediately reached for comment.

Even after he ruptured his Achilles tendon in 1995, Smith remained a solid corner and at one point he teamed with Deion Sanders to provide Dallas the NFL's best cover tandem. His skills began to decline with the back injury.

He was chosen by the Cowboys in the first round of the 1992 draft and he appeared in 103 games with 93 starts. Smith had 19 interceptions along with 85 passes defensed and 361 tackles.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com.