Peterson: Smith's second chance is worth it
March 11
Contra Costa Times
"The 49ers signed quarterback Alex Smith to a restructured contract Tuesday, and from all corners of their fan base a cry arose:
"Oh yeah, that guy."
It's a win-win proposition, and not just because it installs Smith as a leading candidate for the 2009 Comeback Player of the Year award. For starters, it saves the 49ers some dough. Smith, scheduled to make $24.6 million over the next two seasons under the deal he signed after the 49ers made him the top pick in the 2005 draft, will now make at least $8 million, according to ESPN.com.
Smith gets his wish to remain in San Francisco. As for the millions of dollars he conceded back to the team, a lot of whopping big NFL contracts wind up being restructured for one reason or another, and almost none are fully guaranteed. Given that his original contract was for $49.5 million, we can assume Smith already has pocketed in the neighborhood of $25 million, with in excess of $8 million more on the way.
In other words, if you see him wearing jeans with holes in the knees, that would be a fashion statement.
But this isn't merely a financial restructuring of an overvalued contract. This is a complete psychic overhaul of the complicated relationship between a player and his team.
Smith arrived in San Francisco as the designated savior for a team coming off a 2-14 season and led by a rookie head coach. With big money came grossly
oversized expectations. You see it all the time. People can't help themselves.
You see this all the time, too - the plan went awry. Smith played sparingly as a rookie, took every snap his second season, was injured in his third, and didn't play at all in what would have been his fourth. The team spun its wheels. Smith's relationship with coach Mike Nolan came undone. The 49ers moved on without the No. 1 pick in the 2005 draft, who seemed destined to wind up on the back of a Trivial Pursuit question card."
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