DE Antonio Smith Signed, 5 yrs $12.5 Million Guaranteed

[bono]

NFL Network saying Antonio Smith just signed 5 years, $35mil with $12.5 mil guaranteed

[Keith]

Adam Schefter
DE Smith signs with Texans

Posted: Adam Schefter | Adam Schefter | Tags: Antonio Smith, Arizona Cardinals, Houton Texans
Cardinals free-agent defensive end Antonio Smith is now a member of the Texans. Smith signed a five-year, $35 million deal that includes $12.5 million in guarantees on Saturday.

http://blogs.nfl.com/2009/02/28/de-s...s-with-texans/

More salary info:

Smith, a part-time starter in Arizona, will earn $15.5 million in the first year, $19.4 million in the first two years, and $24 million over the first three.

http://blogs.nbcsports.com/home/arch...ith-texan.html

Smith came to Houston on Friday night and spent Saturday meeting with Texans coach Gary Kubiak and his assistants while general manager Rick Smith negotiated a five-year, $35 million contract with Antonio Smith's agent, Drew Rosenhaus. Of that, $12.5 million is guaranteed.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/6286086.html

[painekiller]

Originally Posted by Keith

http://blogs.nfl.com/2009/02/28/de-s...s-with-texans/

More salary info:

http://blogs.nbcsports.com/home/arch...ith-texan.html



http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/6286086.html

Well I hope the coaches know what they are doing, cause this smells of an overpayment. An average player at best getting danged good money.

[nunusguy]

Originally Posted by painekiller

Well I hope the coaches know what they are doing, cause this smells of an overpayment. An average player at best getting danged good money.

Honestly I don't want to be negative, but that's also basically my sentiments about this deal.
However, there is hope because Smith & Kubiak so far have been consistantly disappointing with their FA selections and the simple law of averages tells us thats bound to turn around at some point. Maybe this is the guy who exceeds expectations instead of falling short of them ?

[bckey]

I just hope that the Texans pay Demeco more than this. Anything less will be insulting. I'm good with the signing but I want the players that have been here and given the Texans 110% to get paid. Keep em happy.

[WMH]

Call me clueless....BUT....is $12.5MM guarranteed really all that out of whack? Comparing to some of the other contracts that are getting thrown around right now, I had guessed that it would come in somewhere in the $15MM range in order to land him....

IMO, this doesn't seem all that bad, gives us an LDE to be a more productive option than Weaver, and gives us alot more options come April.

[painekiller]

Originally Posted by WMH

Call me clueless....BUT....is $12.5MM guarranteed really all that out of whack? Comparing to some of the other contracts that are getting thrown around right now, I had guessed that it would come in somewhere in the $15MM range in order to land him....

IMO, this doesn't seem all that bad, gives us an LDE to be a more productive option than Weaver, and gives us alot more options come April.

I would rather see guys like Cochran (hurt all the time) and Bulman get raises then an underacheiver get over $10M. I know this contract has to do with Bush and his time in Arizona, so this signing needs to be on his shoulders.

BTW giving Ryans and Robinson the money big is now something this team has to do. Ryans has been to the Pro Bowl and Dunta was on the verge when he got hurt. I mean they gave the back up TE a nice payday, pay your two defensive leaders.

[Bigtinylittle]

Originally Posted by WMH

Call me clueless....BUT....is $12.5MM guarranteed really all that out of whack? Comparing to some of the other contracts that are getting thrown around right now, I had guessed that it would come in somewhere in the $15MM range in order to land him....

IMO, this doesn't seem all that bad, gives us an LDE to be a more productive option than Weaver, and gives us alot more options come April.

I am very optimistic about this signing. Supposedly he can move inside on passing downs. If he does that, we don't even need to THINK about a tackle with our first day picks. Or a DE. And because we resigned Wilson, we don't need a first day pick there either.

As a result, we now have more freedom to go with BPA in the draft, whether we move down or not.

[dalemurphy]

Originally Posted by painekiller

I would rather see guys like Cochran (hurt all the time) and Bulman get raises then an underacheiver get over $10M. I know this contract has to do with Bush and his time in Arizona, so this signing needs to be on his shoulders.

BTW giving Ryans and Robinson the money big is now something this team has to do. Ryans has been to the Pro Bowl and Dunta was on the verge when he got hurt. I mean they gave the back up TE a nice payday, pay your two defensive leaders.

Why would you call Smith an "underachiever"? He was a 5th round project that improved vastly the past 2 1/2 years. Arizona fans and coaches consider him a hard worker and a guy that gives good effort. Furthermore, he played extremely well in the playoffs.

Antonio Smith had to wait for 5 years and produce before he got paid. That's the nature of the NFL. If Cochran and Bulman produce the next year or two then they'll get a payday as well. If the Texans start handing out raises to its ERFAs and RFAs, then that would put them at a competitive disadvantage with the rest of the NFL.

[dalemurphy]

Originally Posted by Bigtinylittle

I am very optimistic about this signing. Supposedly he can move inside on passing downs. If he does that, we don't even need to THINK about a tackle with our first day picks. Or a DE. And because we resigned Wilson, we don't need a first day pick there either.

As a result, we now have more freedom to go with BPA in the draft, whether we move down or not.

This draft is pretty wild. We're going to go into it without any glaring needs to address and yet we should have at least 8 picks. As a Texan fan, this is a very, very foreign feeling.

I know we need to address safety, Rb, interior Ol at some point- but we have talent in all those players which would allow us the flexibility of addressing it later in the draft. I know a lot of people are gungho about getting a LB with the first pick (which is fine with me) but I actually think we have a strong and deep group: Demeco, Adibi, Diles, Bentley, Thompson, Coley

[barrett]

By the nature of FA, you cannot sign a young starter without overpaying.

[Fonz the Boss]

This signing clears some questions in the draft.... With Antonio Smith getting that ridiculous contract dont expect the Texans to draft Everett Brown, Brian Orakpo, or even Aaron Maybin. Now that they have their pass rusher (even though Im not too optimistic about his future) it makes sense to trade down and get an extra pick. Patriots seem like a good candidate seeing that they own three 2nd round picks. I say the Texans trade their 15th overall pick to the Patriots for the Patriots' 23rd overall pick and the last of their three 2nd round picks..... It makes sense for the Patriots if they want to land Brown, Orakpo or Maybin. One of those three will definitely be there at 15.

[Arky]

Wow, guess Smith will be canceling the visits to the other teams... Just heard about this right now...

I"m optimistic about this, too... avg. of 4.5 sacks/yr over the last two, a young man coming into his prime - I think this will (hopefully) separate him from the older, injury prone busts this team has regrettably signed in the past...

[painekiller]

Originally Posted by dalemurphy

If Cochran and Bulman produce the next year or two then they'll get a payday as well. If the Texans start handing out raises to its ERFAs and RFAs, then that would put them at a competitive disadvantage with the rest of the NFL.

I agree with this statement. And I am sorry if it came across I want to pre bump the guys who are homegrown. I think Cochran and Bulman can be as effective as this FA, and like many times, I might be wrong about the new guy. I hope I am wrong about him, and he answers our need.

[WMH]

Originally Posted by painekiller

I hope I am wrong about him, and he answers our need.

I think we are ALL hopeful of this....

[Nconroe]

I guess my first impression was its a bit high, but I think FA's all are high, thus building through draft is best way to get better. Hopefully Antonio will be the DE we need and we can now draft BPA with a bunch of draft picks.

[popanot]

Gee... I guess we aren't getting Peppers now.

[James]

I dont think this signing is a guarantee that we wouldn't take a top flight DE. Smith can theoretically slip to the inside for certain downs, a great depth of talent on the DL just helps you overcome wear and tear (see NYG two years ago).

[coloradodude]

This is a very good signing.

Too much money? Yes...no...I really don't care because it's someone elses Monopoly money. Now let's address the linebackers.

[jcp]

Seems like a very frontloaded contract if 15.5 million actually comes off the books in year one. Maybe they are trying to dry up 09 cap space to the benefit of future years.

I'm no cap guru though...maybe Keith can dissect the cap ramifications.