Saints Will Restructure DE Will Smith's Contract

The New Orleans Saints will restructure defensive end, Will Smith’s contract to free up some money in the salary cap for the 2012 season, according to Nola.com.

The Saints plan on restructuring Smith’s contract by converting some of his initial salary into a signing bonus. He should receive the same amount of money that he was guaranteed before the restructure, but the deal will become less of a burden on the cap.

Smith was due to receive $7 million base salary this season plus a $1 million roster bonus and $150,000 workout bonus. His salary cap figure would have been $10.15 million. At the beginning of this week the Saints were $15 million under the salary cap, which is listed as $120 million, but this restructure should free up some additional money in their cap.