[Buckskin86]

John DeShazier
Rewarding Smith another wise investment by Saints
Thursday, June 12, 2008
John DeShazier
Place this one in the Money Well Spent file, because of who Will Smith is and who we assume he still will be now that he gets to watch the money pile up.

Place it there, because since Smith joined the Saints, there hasn't been a game day he could have been accused of mailing in, hasn't been a time he has allowed himself to get pudgy or ineffective, hasn't been a moment when he could have been considered anything less than an eloquent and thoughtful spokesman.

The contract extension Smith agreed to Wednesday -- six years for reportedly $70 million -- makes him the third highest-paid defensive end in the NFL. It also makes the Saints a smart franchise, from the standpoint of taking care of its stars and ensuring that they'll be around to form the core that hopefully will lead the team back to the playoffs.

Sure, we saw this one coming from a couple of miles away. Because with Mickey Loomis as general manager, the Saints routinely have identified their most important players and compensated them before they could get to the open market. They similarly locked up running back Deuce McAllister, cornerback Mike McKenzie and defensive end Charles Grant and soon will do the same with receiver Marques Colston.

Rewarding Smith another wise investment by Saints- NOLA.com