NFL Free Agency: Sean Smith agrees to four-year deal with Oakland Raiders
By Nick Tylwalk
Cornerback Sean Smith is switching teams but staying in the AFC West, reportedly agreeing to a four-year deal with the Oakland Raiders.
Strengthening your own team while simultaneously weakening a division rival is never a bad thing. That’s exactly what the Oakland Raiders have done, with ESPN’s Adam Schefter confirming an earlier report by Ian Rapaport that cornerback Sean Smith is going to leave the Kansas City Chiefs for a four-year deal with the Silver and Black.
Former Dolphins CB Sean Smith and Raiders reached agreement on 4-year, $40 million deal, as @RapSheet reported.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 10, 2016
Some Twitter users gave Schefter a hard time about mentioning the Dolphins instead of the Chiefs, but the 28-year old Smith will indeed be headed to the third team of his pro career after playing in Miami from 2009 to 2012.
As a member of the Chiefs, Smith was never the type to post gaudy interception numbers, though he memorably returned a pick 100 yards during his first season in Kansas City. What he does bring to the Raiders at 6-foot-2 and 215 pounds is the size to match up against some of the NFL’s bigger receivers. He’s also proven to be durable, missing just one game due to injury for the Chiefs, though he was suspended for off the field issues for the first three games of the 2015 campaign.
The Chiefs are set at one cornerback spot even with Smith gone thanks to 2015 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Marcus Peters and will hope for a fully recovered Phillip Gaines to start on the opposite side after missing most of last season with an ACL injury.