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The New Orleans Saints have saved $4.78 million in salary cap space by restructuring the contract of veteran defensive end Will Smith, according to numbers obtained by ESPN.com.

The deal was finalized Monday as the Saints position themselves to be under the salary cap at the start of free agency. That could be a challenge because the Saints have placed a franchise tag of almost $15 million on quarterback Drew Brees and want to attempt to re-sign guard Carl Nicks and receiver Marques Colston, as well as some other free agents. The Saints likely will be releasing some veterans in the coming days, but restructuring Smith gives them some added flexibility.

The deal was signed Monday and it dropped Smith’s 2012 base salary from $7 million down to the veteran minimum of $825,000. But Smith was well compensated for working with the Saints. He received a $6.175 signing bonus as part of the restructure. He also is scheduled to earn a $1 million roster bonus in late March and a $150,000 bonus for taking part in an unspecified number of the team’s offseason workouts.

The only downside is that Smith’s 2013 cap figure jumps to more than $14.5 million and will be almost $14 million in 2014, the final year of the contract. But the Saints can restructure the deal again in future years to make it more cap friendly.

Will Smith deal cleared $4.78 million for cap - NFC South Blog - ESPN

alexonfyre

This quiet bit of news actually made me pretty happy today. It also quiets the criticism of Benson being a "tightwad" since he is actually paying Will Smith more money out-of-pocket in order to reduce his cap hit this year, and possibly next year as well.

Mardigras9

Too bad he'll be watching the first few games from home sounds like.

Saintswrath

It's good news but he could have helped the team out by taking a bit more of his actual contract out since he is part of the whole bounty thing, in fact all players involved should take a paycut to help the franchise out.. i think that would speak volumes.

alexonfyre

Big Willie is taking the league minimum this year...we couldn't have paid him less even if he wanted it...

FinSaint

Yeah, but you have to factor in the bonuses as well, and it seems like 2014 is no longer an optional year like it was under the former contract.

Anyway, this is good news, and I'm glad first and foremost that Smith will remain a Saint.


Like the first comment on the actual article stated, $6.175 isn't that big of a signing bonus!

darstep

The signing bonus makes up for this years salary.
He may be looking for a place to land when this season is over,
especially if he ends the year with only 5 sacks.
14 million in 13 & 14...I didn't like the 8 mil for this season.

Ashley

I knew he would do this. Plus as stated above, he will rework the deal again.

ScottF

Great News.
first domino in place

QBREES9

Ok so now will Drew sign ............LOL I'm sorry !