$45 million for Justin Smith?

By Mike Young  |   Wednesday, March 05, 2008  |  Comments( 0 )

San Francisco 49ers
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Justin Smith.

Even his name is unassuming.

His vital stats don’t show anything special. At 6-foot-4, 275 pounds you could even make an argument that he’s a little light in the pants. Maybe he likes to sacrifice a little weight for the extra speed to get around the corner?

A quick look at his career stats and you wont find any eye-popping sack numbers. He has a career total 43.5 sacks and 627 tackles over his seven seasons in Cincinnati. His best year came in 2006 when he totaled 7.5 sacks and 81 tackles. He tackling totals did increase every year from his rookie season in 2001 (53) to 2006 (81) but leveled off last year at 78. Maybe he eased off the throttle a bit after being denied an opportunity at free agency when Cincinnati franchised him. Not a great sign for someone supposed to be a high motor guy.

He admits to having a sub par performance in 2007, but passed off his low numbers on injuries to himself and his defensive squad. Smith says his stats aren’t great in any one area because he has “never gotten into the specialization of football.” He considers himself a good pass rusher, a good run stopper, a good football player in general.

He better be, moving from the 4-3 to the 3-4 isn’t easy for anyone, particularly light defensive ends.

Getting a solid player to come in, play hard and get after the ball for 16 games a season still sounds good, but can GM Scot McCloughan justify lavishing a six-year, $45 million deal on a guy who will never be more than good, never be great?

This is the second year in a row the 49ers have spent big money on solid guys with limited upside potential. Last year it was Nate Clements, the good, solid cornerback from a bad team.

This time it’s Smith coming over from the Bengals who were dead last in sacks in 2007 with 22, and underachieved all season. Sound familiar?

Besides playing most of his career for bad teams and being able to play more than 100 games in a row, there is one more surprising thing about him: the only free agent destination he visited was San Francisco. At least he has good taste in cities.

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