DE Antonio Smith Signed, 5 yrs $12.5 Million Guaranteed

[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.

[Keith]

I want to know more details on the contract, but first blush, this is about what I expected him to sign for. Good defensive ends get PAID in this league.

Weaver was given $12 million guaranteed, too, but recall that his guarantee was split in half - $6 million signing bonus and $6 million option bonus due a year later. Hopfeully I'll get better confirmation at some point as to how Smith's guarantee adds up.

If the Texans get the Smith that played well in the playoffs, then this will be a great deal. If he has trouble adapting, then look out.

I think hopes ought to be much higher than just in thinking Smith is a Weaver clone. Weaver was coming over from a 3-4 system and was never thought of as much of a disruptive penetrator (at least that I can recall). Smith is re-teaming with a familiar face in Frank Bush. The Cards mixed things up (Smith played all over it seems), so perhaps the transition to the Texans won't be as daunting.

Some quotes from the sheet at the official:

on playing for Texans defensive coordinator Frank Bush) “I was excited to play for coach (Bush) again because from the beginning of my career, he always kept me grounded. He always kept me hungry, making me work. ...

(on the defense’s style of play in Houston compared to the Arizona defense) “Basically, the only difference will be that I will be a left end now, solely a left end. They basically play almost the same style as far as when you talk technique, speed up the field but still using your hands; not necessarily a reading defense and not necessarily an up-the-field defense.” ...

[Keith]

Smith's contract details look pretty straightforward from what I can tell. Here are the base salaries:

2009 $3,000,000
2010 $3,900,000
2011 $4,600,000
2012 $5,500,000
2013 $6,000,000

Add them up to a simple $12.5 million signing bonus, and the numbers seem to fall in line with the media reports. I'll try to get these into the cap page later tonight or tomorrow.

[mussop]

Originally Posted by popanot

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

Were still getting him! Hes going to play OLB and put his hand down on passing downs.

[NBT]

We had two chances to get Peppers, slim & none.

[mussop]

Originally Posted by NBT

We had two chances to get Peppers, slim & none.

Once we get a 1st and 3rd from Buffalo for OD we can trade OUR 1st and third for Peppers. It will be like trading OD for Peppers and moving up 4 slots in the draft in the 1st and 3rd. You see its all going to come together.

[dadmg]

In a fit of wild procrastination, I actually read a Peter King column this morning. And while I don't give a damn about Peter King's non-existent player evaluation skills, I did find a quote in his blurb about Antonio Smith to be quite interesting:

I think the best deal of the weekend was Antonio Smith, the versatile defensive lineman for the Cardinals -- and the best defensive lineman they had, one of their former coaches told me at the Super Bowl (emphasis added by dadmg) -- going to the Texans for $7 million per. "I think it's going to be an electrifying year for our defensive line. We [Mario Williams and Smith] are going to be a great pair. We're going to cause a lot of havoc for offensive linemen,'' Smith said.

This is not a good signing by the Texans for the money. It's a great signing.

I hold Darnell Dockett in pretty high regard, so to hear an Arizona coach consider Antonio their best lineman does boost my opinion of him a bit. Hopefully his play will convince me to come all the way around.