The Saints entertained right tackle Fred Miller on a free-agent visit Friday, but it was the team's decision to wine and dine free safety Dwight Smith that should raise eyebrows.

Smith's recruitment could signal the end of Tebucky Jones' star-crossed career in New Orleans.

While Saints officials are refraining from comment about Jones' future, they have made no secret that they would like to add a ball-hawking free safety, presumably to replace Jones.

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And that brings us, in admittably roundabout fashion, to safety Dwight Smith.

Or should we say cornerback Dwight Smith?

This year, the Bucs are simply happy to say that Smith is one of theirs. In a season in which virtually every spot on the defense has been hit by injuries, lineup changes or unrealized expectations, the third-year cornerback has been a force from day one. A third-round draft pick out of Akron in 2001, Smith is just the sort of player who, if his career continues on its current beeline upward, can help maintain the Bucs’ defensive dominance well into the latter half of the decade.

“This guy’s got a chance to be really good - really good - if he can stay focused and centered, and keep working with (Defensive Backs Coach) Mike Tomlin,� said Bucs Head Coach Jon Gruden. “This guy’s got rare athletic ability. He’s a real hitter. He’s got great range. He can cover wide receivers or tight ends or backs. And he can hit like a linebacker, and we’re excited about him.�

Here’s where Smith stands 11 games into his third season: He leads the team in interceptions with four and passes defensed with 10 and is fifth with 57 tackles. But it is how Smith has arrived at those numbers that is particularly impressive. Due to injuries to Brian Kelly, John Lynch, John Howell and Jermaine Phillips, Smith has started every game, but at four different positions: strong safety, free safety, left cornerback and nickel back (when the Bucs opened the Washington game in a five-DB package). The distinction between free and strong safety in Tampa Bay’s defense may be relatively unimportant, but Smith’s versatility is not.

“It’s hard,� said Gruden of Smith’s travels about the secondary. “We’re asking him to do a lot for a young guy. He’s the guy we wanted to settle in as a safety this year. Given the injuries, he’s had to move in and out of that position. He’s had to play with a lot of different safeties as well – (Travaris) Robinson and (David) Gibson and Lynch and Phillips.�

In recent weeks, Smith has settled into a set role, but even that one plays into his versatility. The Bucs’ current approach is to start Smith at safety in the base defense, then move him to cornerback when the team goes to the nickel. That allows the Bucs to get athletic youngster Jermaine Phillips on the field at safety in the extra-DB set without taking out either Smith or Lynch.

And it is becoming more and more evident that the Bucs need to have Smith on the field at all times. He is, simply put, an impact player. Giants WR Amani Toomer can certainly attest to that.

Midway through the second quarter of Monday night’s game, with the Bucs leading 7-0, New York faced a third down at the Bucs’ 12. Quarterback Kerry Collins dropped back and threw a lob pass off his back foot with a blitzer in his face. The pass was on target to Toomer, who appeared to be waiting alone for an easy touchdown catch.

Smith, however, had reacted at the throw and thought he could get an interception. When it became clear that he wouldn’t make it in time to pick off the ball, Smith changed his tactics and delivered a crushing blow to the receiver a fraction of the second after the ball arrived. Toomer could hardly be blamed for dropping the pass, given that the force of the impact dislodged his helmet, as well.

In the third quarter, the Giants had again driven into Buccaneer territory when Collins dropped back to pass on first down from the 31. Sapp chased Collins out of the pocket, but the Giants QB saw wide receiver Ike Hilliard in the end zone and tried to hit him while running to his right. Smith thwarted that potential touchdown, too, this time leaping in front of the receiver for his fourth interception of the season. New York’s offense wouldn’t find the end zone the rest of the way.

When Jackson left a few months after Tampa Bay’s Super Bowl XXXVII victory over the Oakland Raiders, the Bucs had lost their Super Bowl MVP. Gruden quickly announced the plan to move Smith to free safety, since the Bucs were set at corner with Kelly and Ronde Barber. It was fitting; Smith could have easily had Jackson’s MVP trophy, given that he was the first player in Super Bowl history to score two defensive touchdowns in the same game. Now he has Jackson’s position, and he has proved to be every bit the playmaker the Bucs believed he could be.

And Smith is also the sort of supremely confident performer that can help maintain Tampa Bay’s defensive swagger in the years to come.

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Does anyone else know Dwight Smith is facing his second charge of pulling a weapon on another motorist? Most recently, it was a pellet gun on a fan that recognized him, but previously he was charged with pulling a gun on another motorist. Good guy to have here. Maybe he can hold up Deuce in the locker room like Albert Connell.