[papabear]

All valid points Keith and I have had some of the same thoughts. I think there are a couple of other things to consider as well. I don't know the numbers, but I would guess with Smith's relative lack of experience he probably was on the low end of the wage scale for NFL GM's. Now that he has proven that he can handle the job at least well enough to not screw anything up he probably deserved a raise....at least a little one to bring him in line with what other GM's are making.


I think the biggest reason is that it's not good for the organization to have someone in power in the last year of their contract. It puts additional stress on everyone. He may not have done much, but he's done enough that there's no reason to run him out of town either...especially since he has had only one draft with one year to evaluate it. It's worth it just to have that appearance of stability. I say appearance because we all know smith could get run out of town well before his contract is up.