New Orleans defensive stars Jonathan Vilma and Will Smith both agreed to take big pay cuts in order to stay with the Saints next year, according to Pat Yasinskas of ESPN. The two cuts totaled nearly $10 million in 2013.
Saints restructure contracts for Will Smith, Jonathan Vilma
Both Jonathan Vilma and Will Smith took large pay cuts in order to remain with the Saints
Grant Halverson
Both men, key players in the bounty scandal last year, were due large salaries and it was known they would have to take pay cuts in order to remain on the Saints, who desperately needed to create cap room. Neither restructured deal converts base salary into signing bonus -- both are just straight pay cuts.
Vilma’s cap hit lowered from $8.633 million to $3.833 million after agreeing to lower his base salary from $4.8 million to $1 million.
Smith, who was scheduled to have the second highest salary on the team, lowered his base pay from $9 million to $3 million. His new contract lowers his cap figure from $13.9 million to $8.502 million in 2013. Smith’s contact will likely have to be addressed again next offseason, as he is scheduled to make $10.4 million in base salary and cause a $13.9 million hit against the salary cap.
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