$15 grand to take a look.
The lack of any market for his services and his minimum wages cost leads me to believe it's gonna take a miracle of divine intervention for Mr. Smith to be a go in September. Have him follow David Ortiz around to figure out his source for the fountain of youth......ahem
Maybe Smith won't make the team, but I really don't get why anyone is looking down on this signing. Based on the contract, it is extremely low-risk, high-reward. If it doesn't work out, you don't really lose anything. If it does work out, it would be a great addition for a salary cap charge that would be less than Jake Bequette's.
Nobody gets excited about buying a car for full price or buying a stock at it's peak. But when it comes to the Patriots, seems like few appreciate a potential good deal.
It's basically a free lottery ticket. Even if the odds are against winning and you don't believe it'll amount to anything, it doesn't hurt to just check it out.
As for the lack of market, why do you think that means anything? Last year, the Jaguars, one of the worst teams in the league cut Daryl Smith, their franchise leading tackler. He languished for several months until after the draft, when the Ravens picked him up for depth. He emerged as their new mike and recently signed a 4-year deal for $16M.
The same offseason, Shaun Phillips was cut from the Chargers and sat on the market for almost 2 months before signing for 1 year, $1M with the Broncos. He would lead the team in sacks as the Broncos went to the Super Bowl.
Every year, the league is wrong about some players. We've seen it ourselves with free agents nobody wanted like Andre Carter and Mark Anderson. Or guys who were cut by crappy teams that turned out to be players like Danny Woodhead and Chris Jones. Or guys disregarded in the draft by every single team over several rounds like Julian Edelman and Tom Brady. Or guys we held in higher regard than anyone else in the draft like Seabass and Mankins.
None of this means Will Smith is going to amount to anything here or anywhere. But I really don't see any harm in this contract. It's only upside, and I don't understand how people can't see the value in these types of deals.